persimmons

I have tried persimmon pudding many years ago so I thought I would buy some pulp from a lady in town who has several trees. I am always looking to introduce the kids to new foods, especially local ones.  The color is lovely and the taste is hard to describe. With the orange color, you might expect it to taste like pumpkin but it doesn't. I made some cookies with half the pulp and plan to make bread with the remaining half pint. I am going to buy a few more pints for the freezer tomorrow.

persimmon cookies

1 stick butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. persimmon pulp
2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cloves
1 c. chopped dates
1 c. chopped nuts (I used pecans.)

Cream butter, sugars, and egg together. Mix in rest of ingredients. Drop by Tbs. on cookie sheet.

Bake at 350* for 15 minutes.

beer bread

I can't stand drinking beer. Don't like the taste at all. Yes, that will surprise many of my high school and college friends who attended lots of parties with me! I do love beer bread. This is for my friend Sally......hope you like it.

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces beer (I use light beer)

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Slowly pour in beer and mix well.
Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350* for 40 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup
melted butter over top and bake 15 minutes more.

*Do not try to make this healthier by skipping the melted butter.
I have tried and it really changes the taste.

canning and other silly stuff

I have thought about canning for a few years so I recently bought some supplies (including a big pot and rack at Walmart for $18!)

I first canned some tomatoes. Not sauce, not juice, nothing fancy, just tomatoes. I haven't opened one yet so I will let you know later how they taste. Probably this winter.....

Last week, I took the kids to a local orchard for raspberry picking. There was more running and yelling than picking but we did pick 3 1/2 pounds. A few days later, these lovely jars were made. I had extra raspberries so they were frozen for smoothies.

Speaking of smoothies, I made a new one today. Last week, with an abundance of peaches in the fridge getting soft, I made a peach crisp. I didn't cut the pieces small enough so the crisp didn't turn out as good as I would have liked. Fast forward to today, into the Vitamix goes half the crisp, some coconut milk, and pineapple juice. YUMMY!

As for the silly stuff, Andrew has recently figured out how to catch our guinea pigs. He takes them all over the house and plays with them. He is very gentle and loving. I snapped a few pics yesterday:

Lemon pound cake muffins

From Taste of Home Cookbook, with my changes below:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. lemon extract
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream

glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
3 T. lemon juice

In large bowl, beat sugar with butter. Beat in eggs and extracts. Mix in flour, salt, soda, and sour cream. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake @ 400* for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely before topping with glaze.

Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over cooled muffins.
Makes 12 muffins

My changes:
I didn't have lemon extract so I used my newest kitchen tool, my microplane grater to zest a whole lemon. I then used the lemon for the juice in the glaze. I decreased the glaze by half. I thought it was plenty for 12 muffins. I used low fat sour cream. I did substitute some whole wheat flour for some of the all purpose flour but I cannot remember how much, maybe 1/2 cup?

I will definitely make these again. I love lemons!

Apple cranberry crumble

3 cups chopped, peeled apples
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter

In a greased 8 inch baking dish, place apples and cranberries. Sprinkle with sugar.
In bowl, combine rest of ingredients. Sprinkle over apple mixture.

Bake @ 350* for 60 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks: The Taste of Home Cookbook. It comes in a 3-ring binder and has tons of recipes, all with nutritional info. I love cookbooks but it really irks me when the calorie count is not included. I am maintaining my weight loss with Weight Watchers and I really need to know the calorie counts!

P.S. I did alter this recipe a bit by decreasing the sugar to 1/2 cup. I think it is a perfect blend of sweetness and the sourness of the cranberries. I will make this again, especially since I have accumulated many bags of cranberries in my freezer. Where did all these come from? :)

coffee cup cozy

I don't go to Starbucks that much but I had a bit of lovely purple yarn so I created my own coffee cozy......without a pattern! Quite a shocker for me. I always follow a pattern and usually never even alter it a bit. This is only my second completed crochet project. I find that crochet is faster than knitting and much easier to fix mistakes. I still love knitting though. I will post a pic of my latest project soon. For now, I am off to another Sunday of basketball (our last of the year, thank goodness).

I love baking!

Andrew and I made these chocolate brownies a few day ago. He is 5 but he does enjoy being in the kitchen with me.

Peanut butter and chocolate: I cannot think of a better combination but add a Reece's cup to a homemade chocolate chip cookie and this is what you get.

some new pictures

Valentine's Day

Here is what happens when the kids find my camera when I am not looking:

Got my Valentine's Day gift today

I did receive roses on Saturday but ***surprise!*** there were some Godiva chocolates hidden for me and David forgot to give them to me yesterday. Noah found them hidden in the closet today. We had a busy day yesterday with 4 basketball games so I can see how the chocolates were missed. The only person (?) I bought anything for was our 6 month old puppy, Scooby, who got some bones. We are heading to Las Vegas soon and the kids decided instead of candy on Feb. 14th, they would rather have something from our trip. Better remember to leave some space in the suitcase for the return trip home.

Lovely snow

I do love snow....I actually don't think we get enough of it here in Indiana. I wish we would have snow, lots of it, ALL winter long. Some mornings recently have resulted in beautiful frost on the trees so I took some pictures.

Happy Valentine's Day

Just a quick note before church: we are not celebrating much today. We have 2 basketball games in different cities, with a potential 2 more games tonight. I am not even making a special dinner. We are having Puccini's Pizza for dinner. Twice baked potato pizza....here I come!

Last night I made perogies, broccoli, carrots, and molten chocolate lava cakes for dessert. I ate one and still lost weight.

molten lava cakes

Another no knead bread success

I have had this book, Kneadlessly Simple for over a year and I finally decided to actually USE it. I tried a cinnamon bread recipe today. The kids love the Pepperidge Farm cinnamon bread for breakfast but I am trying my best to make as much from scratch as possible so when I saw the cinnamon raisin bread recipe, I knew I had to try it. Now, we don't like raisins here. I cannot stand them. I have never liked them. I have given them to the kids but they don't really care for them either! If this bread tastes as good as it smells, goodbye Pepperidge Farm!!!

The kids were making a big tent today and they wanted to pose.

Inside out lasagna

I altered a recipe from the January issue of Eating Well magazine:

Cook 8 oz. pasta and drain. Pour some pasta sauce into large skillet. I didn't measure it, probably half a jar.

I added some salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Put some baby spinach in pan and cook for about 5 minutes, until spinach is wilted. Add the pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Divide among 4 bowls and serve with dollops of ricotta cheese.

I have to alter many of the recipes I find. These silly people in my house don't like onions or mushrooms. (I find it hard to believe they are actually related to me because I love both!)

Have you found Etsy?

I love this website. If you are not familiar, it is a site where you can buy a variety of homemade gifts: pottery, bags, scarves, jewelry, soaps, candles, dolls.....the list is endless. And the creativity is amazing. I often like to browse the store, looking for inspiration for my own craft room. I made my first Etsy purchase a few weeks ago. I actually bought 2 things because I couldn't make a choice between the 2 and I knew I would use both.

The flowered bag is a bit smaller than I envisioned but the Peace and Love purse is perfect. It is very well made and has lots of little pockets for little goodies. I love buying things that are not mass produced in China. Check it out:  etsy.com

busy weekend

I really wanted to hibernate for the whole weekend, but it just wasn't possible. Emma and Noah both had basketball games on Saturday and Sunday. I can't wait until basketball is over and we can have a relaxing month in March. David may be going out of the country for 3 weeks in March so it may not be as relaxing as I would like :)

I made the family lots of goodies for their Super Bowl party. I didn't watch the game. I cannot stand watching football. I like basketball and baseball but football seems like a silly sport, too violent as well. It boggles my mind that so many people are "into" football. I don't think I will ever understand.

I made some Chex mix-just the original recipe, Rice Krispie treats, cheese fondue, potato skins, and a new recipe called: almost candy bars.

The fondue had black beans, nacho cheese sauce, soy based taco meat, and some cut up cheese. They used tortilla chips and pretzels for dipping.

The almost candy bars were from my new Taste of Home cookie cookbook. I altered the recipe quite a bit though. The base was sugar cookie dough instead of chocolate chip cookie dough. The next layer was granola and chocolate chips. I omitted the marshmallow, butterscotch chips, and nuts. Next came melted peanut butter chips and pretzels. Finally, a drizzle of melted dark chocolate completed the bars. 

Valentine's Day math

Check out this fun site:

http://www.googolpower.com/content/free-learning-resources/seasonal-math/valentines-day

a hit and a miss

Sometimes I follow the recipe to a "T" but it still doesn't work out. The lemon bars were over baked. The recipe said 30 minutes but 20 probably would have worked out better. I *am* used to baking in a square glass dish. This dark non stick pan is new and the edges were burned.

For the hit, I decided soup sounded good. I love soup in the winter. I could eat it every day. I used no recipe. I had some chicken stock in the freezer so I thawed it out. I cubed one large red potato with the skin on. I had some dry Amish noodles in the pantry, so one handful was put in the pot. I thawed out a little turkey left over from Thanksgiving and chopped it up. Seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder, minced onion, and freshly ground pepper. After it had simmered about 20 minutes, I stirred in some shredded cheddar cheese. It was so good! My only regret was that I only made 1 serving....should have made a big pot.

snowing and baking just go together

I always get the urge to bake something sweet during a snow storm. Actually, I get the urge to bake at other times too but there is something about a warm oven and the yummy smell of baking cookies or muffins when outside, it is cold and windy. Last night, Andrew and I were home alone during a heavy snowfall so I dragged out a new cookbook: 

This should keep me busy for awhile. There are over 600 recipes in this book. That's a lot of cookies. I was craving something chocolatey so we headed to the "Brownie" chapter. We ended up making the fudgy brownies which were not as good as the recipe you find on the Baker's Chocolate box but they were still pretty tasty!

A new knitting project

http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/02/slow-knitting.html

I really hope I get a chance to cast on this blanket tonight. It all depends on how much snow we get because Noah's basketball game tonight *might* get canceled. It is snowing huge flakes right now and doesn't appear to be letting up anytime soon. The weather radar shows heavy snow in the 2 states to the west of us.

Anyway, I have lots of extra yarn that would make a good start for this blanket. I love doing straight knit stitch. It is so mindless and easy to do when I watch movies.

no bake cookies

We always have the ingredients for these cookies. Andrew thinks these look weird so he won't try one but the rest of us love them. The kids made them, hence the different sizes of cookies. I kept telling them to make small ones but somehow they kept getting larger and larger. This recipe comes from a Delaware County Extension Homemakers cookbook that my dear Grandma Joyce gave me. She even signed the front and dated it: 1992. As a child, I remember attending some of the Homemakers club meetings with her. This was just one of many clubs she was a member of. Grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer and died when Andrew was a baby. I think about her often and miss her everyday.

2 cups sugar

1 stick butter

4 T. cocoa

1/2 cup milk

4 T. peanut butter

pinch salt

1 t. vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups oats

In large saucepan, mix sugar, butter, cocoa, milk, and peanut butter. Cook, stirring, until thick and bubbling. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and oats. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper or Silpat baking mat. I always put in the freezer to make them set up quickly and store in the refrigerator.

Scooby

This dog knows where the warmth is!
Our 5 month old puppy, Scooby, will do anything for food.
He can sit, shake his paw, lie down, and roll over.
If only he would learn his paws do not belong on the kitchen counter and
it is not ok to pull items from the trash can, especially used coffee grounds!

Upside down broccoli pizza

I read a lot of magazines, mostly food related stuff. Therefore, I tear out lots of recipes. This is one area of my life where I am very disorganized. I throw the recipe in a drawer and hope I can find it later when I actually need it. I have been thinking about buying an electronic recipe keeper but the $300 price has been holding me back.

I tried a new recipe last night. It was a hit with 4 out of the 5 in the house. Noah actually liked it and he normally will not eat broccoli. I modified the recipe greatly since the original called for turkey (only 1 will eat that) and onions (2 will not touch them).

Upside Down Broccoli Pizza

I didn't really measure anything so I will make guesses for you. First of all, you need some pizza dough. I don't buy premade dough. It is cheaper to make your own at home and my bread maker does a great job. I made a half batch although next time, I will make a full batch and freeze half for another day.

I cooked about 3 cups of frozen broccoli in the microwave. Drain and put in large, oven proof skillet. I added about 1/2 cup alfredo sauce and 1/2 cup ranch dressing and mix well. I also added some dried chives and freshly ground pepper. Top with mozzarella cheese. Roll pizza dough out to a circle that will cover the skillet. This is my least favorite part.....I cannot roll a circle.

I covered the broccoli then brushed the top with a beaten egg. Bake about 20 minutes @ 400 degrees. (Don't forget to keep a hot pad on the handle. I have a nice burn on my hand right now because I forgot :()

Coffee break

So Andrew and I had some time on our hands today after dropping Emma and Noah off for chocolate class (yes, chocolate class-gotta love homeschooling). We were in Brownsburg and according to my Urban Spoon app, there were many coffee shops to choose from. We went looking for the first--out of business. Second one, same thing. Third shop-turned into a bar/restaurant. It appears that Starbucks has run the independent coffee shops out of town. Just like they did in Plainfield. Two independents closed after Starbucks came to town. I don't really think Starbucks has the best coffee but when all the other places close, I have no other choice. A few years ago, my favorite Avon coffee place, Beanzies, shut down. I was so sad. Emma and I had spent some time there, just the 2 of us. Yummy strawberry scones, hot cocoa for her, and of course a sweet latte for me. There was also a knitting group that met there that I was looking forward to joining. I don't think boycotting Starbucks will make a bit of difference. I will continue to search for locally owned businesses and offer my money to them when I can.

Wish I had a walk-in pantry

like the one my old friend had. Floor to ceiling shelves, fancy lights that automatically turn on whenever a person walked into the room....what a dream! Unfortunately, my pantry is small.Last year, we had a guy give us an estimate to add some custom cabinets and shelving for a larger pantry. I didn't really think it would make that much more space. My kitchen is not that big anyway. Plus, the price was something like $700 or some crazy amount. My dear husband put up some shelving in the basement instead. I think the total cost was $150.I love, love, love these shelves. I can stock up when I find a good sale. I only make it to Trader Joe's about every other month so now I can really stock up at each visit and have some great place to store all the goodies. Of course, if Trader Joe would just build a new store in Hendricks County, I would be even happier. Have a great day everyone.