Bread Baking

I woke up this morning thinking that I would make just a few more things to put in our freezer and take to my dad. And I did, but it turned into a day-long job. Good thing my freezer is full so I have to stop cooking and baking.

I thought I would include a picture of my food slicer I break out when I have a lot of bread to slice. I bought this probably twenty years ago. The width can be adjusted. It all comes apart pretty easily for cleaning. I've used it for bread, meat and cheese. This is a loaf of English Muffin Bread. I found the recipe on Pinterest. Here's the link if you want to know.

 

 I am thankful for...

...the smell of my mom's Swedish Rye Bread baking

...the recipe card with the Swedish Rye Bread recipe written in my mom's handwriting

...a fun chat session on Facebook this evening with an old college friend. Our chat ranged from bad cooking to weather to geography to the mental struggle of realizing our parents are aging and we are all grown up now.

...a husband who washes the dishes after supper

Homemade

I am thankful for...
...homemade chicken noodle soup
...homemade biscuits
...homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with pecans
...a very loving and accepting husband

One More Apple Post

This will be the last picture of apple related stuff. I promise.

Today I made the first apple pie I've ever made.

It got a thumbs up from dear Hubby. :)

More on Applesauce

I tackled the applesauce today. Last year I broke down and shelled out the $25 or so and bought one of those apple peeler/corer/slicer thingies. After I used it once, I questioned why I had avoided buying one for so many years. It works well and cuts the time that I spend peeling and coring and cutting up apples significantly.

Plus! It's red! If I have the option of buying anything for the kitchen in red I go for it!

I just had to take a picture of the pile of the peels.

 

I used all sorts of types of apples. I love all the flavors that come through in the applesauce.

I over filled my 7 quart slow cooker with the apple slices, added some lemon zest, lemon juice and a couple of cinnamon sticks. No water. No sugar.

This cooked down to about half this volume. I set the slow cooker on low for about four hours. 

Then I totally forgot to take a picture of the finished product before I scooped it up into containers for the freezer.

(...and Kathy...aka Nana...it is really easy to make!)

Let's Make Applesauce!

I have this giant pile of apples that will become applesauce tomorrow.

  Our daughter and son-in-law gave us a bunch of apples a couple of weeks ago and today I bought

 a bunch of different varieties. I love the flavor that many kinds of apples give the applesauce.

Volunteer

Last night Hubby volunteered to make supper for tonight.

 

 

He made waffles and sausage (and made the syrup). It was all very, very yummy! And such a treat to not have to think of something to fix for supper.

I'm blessed.

One of My Favorites

A Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Honeycrisp Apple, and Tomato Soup

One of my favorite quick meals for when the weather gets cooler.

New Corn

Just a little fluff here today:::

A few weeks ago my daughter told me about a way they had eaten corn on the cob. I think I may have found a replacement for the standard butter and salt.

(...and if we don't use butter, then no more debate on how to get the butter on the corn cob...roll on the stick of butter or use a knife to daintily spread the butter...)

We had a little pile of red pepper flakes and a quarter of a lime. We dipped the lime into the pepper flakes and then smeared the whole thing over the corn cob. It was VERY good! We love spicy food and this was just perfect. We both ended up adding a little bit of salt on the corn.

Some Things New

Last weekend Hubby and I experienced some new things.

Sushi.
Dog Park.
Settlers of Catan.
Doughnuts.

Last weekend we were in Kansas visiting our kids (Yay!!!).  No, visiting the kids isn't a new thing. That has happened before.

We went out for sushi with our daughter and son-in-law. Not a totally new thing. They took us out for sushi last November.

The new thing was this time we asked if they wanted to go out for sushi. They love it, so they were more than happy to accept. I have no idea what they ordered, but I liked it. This time I even had that big piece of fish in the front of the photo.

A totally new experience for us was to go to a dog park. They have these things in the middle of a big city so those city dogs can have a place to run off the leash. All six of us took the daughter's dog, Charley, to play with some friends.

 Charley is the black and white one.

 We decided to call this Dalmatian, Pongo. He was pretty.

Then there were these two. The little one was running around barking at all the other dogs. The black dog with the coat and the doggy shoes did a great job of just ignoring the little annoying one. He also made me laugh with all his prancing around in those doggy shoes.

The dog park was fascinating. I think there should be bleachers set up some where so I can just sit and watch the dogs and make up stories about all the dogs.

I will say, it makes me glad that I don't own a dog and have to think about things like when I should take them to the dog park.

Saturday night's new thing was playing  a game called Settlers of Catan. I had never played this game before. I was the only one who hadn't. We teamed up with spouses and I'm sorry to say that Hubby had no chance of winning with me as a partner.

And since I didn't really understand the game very well, I built things with the game pieces. I'm hopeless when it comes to games, it seems.

Stone Henge.

Sunday morning we were treated to homemade doughnuts courtesy of Daughter and her husband.

These are the last two doughnuts that were waiting for the oil. Zach was the fryer, the rest of us dipped in cinnamon sugar, sprinkled in powdered sugar and snarfed down way too many of them. They were scrumptious!

What a fun weekend with our kids!

I missed them the second we drove away.

The Recipe

A friend asked for the recipe of this yummy meal that Hubby made a few nights ago:
(The recipe comes from a stir-fry cookbook that we've had for more than twenty years.)

Hot Beef & Watercress Salad (serves 2)

1/2 pound lean boneless beef, sliced thinly

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/4 pepper

1 small white onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings 

About 1/2 pound watercress

In a bowl, stir together garlic, soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar, and 1 teaspoons of the oil. Add beef; stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until the next day.

In another bowl stir together remaining 1/2 teaspoon sugar, remaining 2 teaspoons oil, vinegar, and pepper. Add onion and mix lightly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until the next day.

(Hubby couldn't find any watercress. I don't know if it's seasonal or if our small town grocery store just doesn't carry it. He just used some mixed greens and it was very good!)

Shortly before serving, add whatever greens you choose to use to the onion mixture. mixing lightly to coat. Arrange on 2 dinner plates.

Place a wok over high heat. When wok is hot, add beef mixture and stir-fry until meat is browned (1 1/2 to 2 minutes). Arrange meat evenly atop the greens.

There ya go! Pretty simple and quite delicious! Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!

Supper

Tonight's Supper:

Yes, we ate at home. No, I didn't cook this.

This morning Hubby said he would think of something for supper AND cook it. And look how yummy it turned out! I just love how he got out the Asian dishes, nice glasses and silverware. Such a great husband I have!

Fondue for Two

I have been having a lot of fun trying out some of my new gadgets. With Christmas and my birthday being a little more than two weeks apart, I get blessed seemingly all at once with  more than a couple gifts from my loves ones. I don't mean to brag. Just, you know, one of my love languages is gifts...giving and receiving. So the whole Christmas and birthday things are exciting to me.

For a few years I have talked about wanting to try fondue. I think it would be a fun treat when we have guests. I fondly remember having fondue in the 70s at my parents' house. Pretty sure their fondue pots were a lovely shade of burnt orange and avocado green. :/

This year for my birthday my sweet hubby gave me a fondue set. He couldn't find any in a store (and I looked too) so we ended up ordering one online. A couple of days after it came we decided to try it out.

Our first attempt was meat/oil fondue. I had a pork loin in the freezer, so that got sliced into cubes and marinated.

We read the directions closely and cooked the pieces of pork in the oil. Each fondue fork is a different color on the end of the handle, so when there are a lot of people partaking, it's easy to remember which fork was yours.

I learned that I need to cut the pieces of the meat a little bit smaller so it would cook a little more quickly.

We had some rice and mango salsa with the pork. It was so good!

The next night we tried some cheese fondue.

I think this was my favorite between the two. What's not to like? Hot melty cheese with a little wine mixed in and some homemade crusty artisan bread. Mmmmm!

Next we'll have to try some chocolate fondue. Come visit and make a request!

My Very Own

Last December 5, a questions in the Wednesday Hodgepodge  was whether or not we liked Fruitcake. My answer, in part, was::
"My mom always makes fruitcake and I really like it. She forgets that I like and thinks my brother is the only one who likes it. :) I hope she makes it this year..."

We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family the weekend before Christmas. On Sunday we met everyone at church for worship. My mom walked up to me, unzipped my purse, and proceeded to stuff something wrapped in aluminum foil in there. I looked down and grinned. I knew what was in there.

My very own Fruitcake.

When we got home, I put it in the freezer to save for later. Yesterday I thawed it out and this morning I enjoyed several slices for breakfast.

  Mmmmmm!!!

Thanks, Mom! It's very yummy!

Month of Thankfulness - Day 18

Sunday: A Blessed Day

Hubby and I joined our son and daughter-in-law at their church this morning for worship. I love their church. The music is always fantastic. Today's instruments were a piano and a cello. (The sound of a cello just gives me the chills.) I am so thankful that they are able to worship at a church that truly preaches the gospel. I always get so much practical stuff from the sermons. Every sermon wraps up with the gospel message. The service usually ends with me in tears, I am so moved. What really got me today was being served communion by my son and daughter-in-law. Words cannot describe the emotions. What kind of a loving God do we have that would allow me (& hubby) to experience that moment?

After that simply marvelous morning we enjoyed a yummy BBQ lunch and some fun shopping with the son and daughter-in-law.

Then I spent three and a half hours at Panera (which in and of itself would be great) with an old friend. We first met in choir when Hubby and I were first married and lived in Wichita, Kansas. My friend and I have moved around a lot over the years and even lost touch for several years. We got back in touch and text each other often, but don't often get the opportunity to actually see each other. This trip it happened to work out that we were both able to spend some time together. SO MUCH FUN! I don't think we really spent three and a half hours just sitting there talking, but that is what the clock indicated, so I guess I have to believe it.

This evening we enjoyed a late supper with our daughter and son-in-law. They encouraged us to try something brand new to Hubby and I.

Sushi! At one point in my life I thought I would never want to eat sushi. Megan and Zach have told us about this place and we said we'd like to go with them sometime if they would order for us. And can I say? We really did like it! I'd go again (with someone who knew what they were ordering).

I am thankful for...
...God's truth being preached
...singing with the body of Christ
...partaking in communion
...an afternoon spent with a friend I first met 28 years ago
...that friendship
...my daughter
...the enjoyment of food

Month of Thankfulness - Day 8

Two days ago I wrote about fixing Potato Bologna for supper and a couple of my bloggy friends said they hadn't heard of it.

It's a Swedish thing. My mom is a full Swede, the second generation born in this country. (Her two grandmothers came to this country when they were girls.) My mom fixes Swedish Potato Bologna for Christmas dinner every year. It's a very simple recipe: Ground Beef, Ground Pork, Onion, Potato, Salt and Pepper. (Right Mom?) The onion and potato are grated and the whole thing mixed together and then put in casings. My mom has a sausage stuffer that she attaches to the kitchen table, the meat mixture is put in the top, crank the handle, then it oozes out through a tube into the casing. I know Mom used to get the casing from a local meat locker (pig intestine --ew), I don't know if she still does. (Mom?)

Anyway.

There is a grocery store chain that is an Iowa based chain and near Christmas-time they carry Potato Bologna. This small town has one of those stores and when shopping there earlier this week, I wandered by the meat counter and saw they were selling Potato Bologna! I did a little happy dance and bought some for us. I will likely repeat that over the next few months several times. To cook it, I boil it for about 30 minutes. Then I brown it in a skillet. My mom says her mother would do the browning step. Mom doesn't, mostly because she makes so much of it, logistically it would take just forever and who has forever when there is a swarm of people waiting for Christmas dinner?

So that's Potato Bologna. Any questions bloggy friends?

Yesterday I took my car to get new tires. I got to go to The Big City! That is a reason for a happy dance for this city-girl-stuck-in-a-small-town. My book and I enjoyed a lunch at Panera (of course), the car got its work done, then there was a little bit of shopping. I even squeezed in a visit with my sister-in-law. I was at a store just a few miles from her house and decided to text her to see if I could stop by for 30 minutes. She was home and said to come on by. I checked the time on my phone as I walked up on the house and was determined to only stay for 30 minutes. ha. I was there for 75 minutes. What can I say? Sister-in-law is easy to talk with!

I am thankful for...
...the traditional foods my mom fixes
...the pretty new tires on my car
...The Big City
...my sister-in-law's compassion (when I was telling her about something hard she got tears in her eyes before I even did)
...a phone call from a friend this afternoon who talked me through a decision I was trying to make

July Journal -- The Summer Meal

This afternoon we bought some sweet corn from a road-side stand. Tonight we had what I think is a classic summer time meal.

Maybe the grill salmon isn't a classic MidWest meal, but it sounded yummy to us tonight.
Do you see the orange-ish colored stuff on the blueberries and peaches? Tang. Yep, Tang! My mom invented that idea. She has put it on her fresh fruit salads for years. I just love it!

Questions:

When you eat sweet-corn-on-the-cob, do you roll the corn in a stick of butter, or spread it on with a knife? (We roll it in a stick of butter here.)

Do you eat the corn in rows or around? (Hubby and I are opposites. I eat around, he eats in rows.)

Huevos Hyacinth (Pioneer Woman)

**Another installment in my cooking my way (s l o w l y) through Pioneer Woman's cookbook.**

I made this recipe a few weeks ago for a breakfast for myself. (Huevos is Spanish for Eggs. I knew that, but I did check with my friend Google Translate.)  (Hyacinth in the title refers to a friend of Ree's, the Pioneer Woman, who made up the recipe.)

Anyway....

It's very simple: layer ham or turkey, a sliced tomato or salsa, crack an egg over that and add some grated cheese, then bake.

You may notice that you can't see any tomato or salsa in the photo. That would be because I didn't have any tomatoes and the salsa just didn't sound good that particular morning. I woke up that day with a nasty headache that just would not go away.

Overall, it was very good. I would make this for company. I'd have to do a few changes, though. The salsa or tomato would make a good addition. Also, I used a pretty thick slice of ham that left the bottom of the dish quite watery. A thinner slice of ham or turkey would likely work better.

Marmalade Muffins (Pioneer Woman)

**Another great addition through my Cooking Through PW Cooks Adventure.**  
(believe it or not)

Remember that my girls (daughter and daughter-in-law) and I were working our way through Pioneer Woman's cookbook? (You can click here to see all the other installments.) My last post on that was way back in August! Gulp. The girls and I talked about it over Christmas break and decided that I would carry on the torch alone. They are super, super, super busy with their schooling (They are learning to become a pharmacist and a doctor. I really don't understand why they think they are busy. ha.) (Actually I totally, totally understand.) I asked Hubby if he would bravely try some of the recipes that I had initially passed on to one of the others because I knew he wouldn't like them and he agreed to. I should probably have the pizza delivery guy on speed-dial just in case. I'll do my best to make my way through cooking all the rest of recipes in Ree Drumond's cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks, just don't know how long it will take me.

There were just a couple of recipes left to finish up the breakfast section of The Pioneer Woman Cooks.
This was a muffin recipe. Ree calls them Marmalade Muffins, but there really isn't any marmalade in them. Just orangey yumminess.

The cast of characters:

The first step is to cream the butter and sugar together, then add the egg. I should have taken a wider shot to show my 27+ year old hand mixer. I got it for a wedding shower present and have used it for all those years (except for the three years we lived in Singapore).

As I was doing the creaming, I remembered working hard at this step when I was a little girl. I loved to bake even then. I would mix and stir and mix trying to get it all blended, then take the bowl to my mom and ask her if it was good enough and she would take the spoon and somehow magically make it even more smooth.

The ingredients for these muffins are pretty basic. Butter, sugar, egg, flour, baking soda, milk. The really yummy part is the addition of orange zest. All I had on hand were some clementine oranges. I don't know if the zest is the same as a regular orange or not, but these were tasty just the same.

The recipe made 24 mini-muffins. That's a few too many for just two of us, so I made half a recipe and got out one of my mini-muffin pans. But it ended up making.... 24 mini-muffins. I must have different definition of mini than Ree. I guess it's a good thing I didn't make a full recipe!

To finish off the muffins, mix together some brown sugar and orange juice squeezed from the oranges that were zested and pour over the hot muffins and let it soak in. Again, I don't know if it made a difference that I used clementine oranges or not. They seem to be just as orangey as regular ones.

So, the verdict was...

I liked the muffins without the  orangey-syrupy stuff. I thought that made them too sweet and too sticky. The plain muffins were very delicate and I loved the orangey flavor.

Cooking

I like to cook.

Lately I have been working on using up some things I've had on hand for a while. Last week I made some brownies and realized after I had it all mixed together that the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and chopped walnuts (those were all in my freezer and needed to be used) were supposed to be a topping. As in put on the top of the batter after it is poured into the baking pan. Oops. (They still tasted quite good.)

Tonight I made "Gingery Pork Meatballs with Noodles."(It was amazing!)

 After I had the meatballs in the oven, I saw that the recipe said to refrigerate the meat mixture for 30 minutes. And after we had finished eating I saw the sliced green onions that were to be a garnish sitting on the counter. Oops again!

That reminds me of a M*A*S*H* episode where Hawkeye and Trapper John are diffusing a bomb. They are following directions that someone is yelling across the compound to them. The directions are something like "Locate the red wire. Snip the red wire. {they snip it} But first, cut the black wire." They dive away to have the bomb explode with propaganda papers.

That's how I've felt like I've been reading these recipes lately. **Sigh**

Day 19 of Thankfulness

All of our kids are coming here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We are both very excited to have them here!

Today was the day of making massive lists in preparation for the fun, long weekend. Hubby has been a great help, because he always is. :)

I broke out my wonderful stand mixer that usually sits so quietly and lonely in the corner of the counter-top...

and used it to mix up a double batch of Butterhorn Rolls. (I truly believe there would be a mutiny if I neglected to make these for any holiday gathering.)(Right, kids?)

I am thankful for...
...my husband's helping hand
...and his love of making lists that sometimes rubs off on me
...my pretty red stand mixer
...my grandma's Butterhorn Roll recipe