Currently

Reading ...  after finishing up Job it seems delightful to be making my way though the Psalms once again.

In other books Steven and I are enjoying the first Warriors series. I'm enjoying it quite a bit more than I thought I would.

We differ though on our favorite characters. I quite like the main character, Fireheart. While Steven's favorite is Tigerclaw, the antagonist. We had an entire discussion where he explained to me that the author wants everyone to like the main character best, but the books would be quite boring without the antagonist. That whenever he is involved in the story it is much more interesting. 

I get where he's coming from, but I don't think the antagonist in a book will ever be my favorite character. 

When Sharon came home from work Steven asked her who her favorite character in the series is and she immediately replied, "Tigerclaw" and gave the same reasons he had.

I'm curious now if I'm the odd one, and do most people enjoy the antagonists the most when they read?

Writing ... this week nothing other than a few lists. A grocery list, and then one that I'm actually kind of excited about and plan to talk about in an upcoming blog post.

Watching ... we're still doing an episode of Little House on the Prairie everyday. Is it any surprise that Steven enjoys the episodes that have the Olsen play a bigger part the most?

Listening ... to the faint sound of the wind chimes on the front porch. The breeze right now is so gentle that it is barely chiming. The second hand is making its noisy journey around the clock tick-tocking off the fleeting time. A bird, of which I'm uncertain what kind it is, singing merrily in the big maple tree here in front of the house.

Baking ... I'm planning to bake some fresh dinner rolls to go with our supper tonight.

Cooking ... last night I made Honey Pepper Chicken, Ranch Potato Salad, and sweet corn. The potato salad is one of our favorites ever since I tried it as one of my new recipes earlier this year. It's quite easy. I simply bake three pounds of potatoes for an hour, once they're cold I peel and cut them into small chunks. I fry a pound of bacon, crumble it and add to the potatoes, then chop three stalks of celery. I pour enough ranch dressing over it all to make it nice and creamy but not soupy and it's ready to serve.

I had not expected it to be the hit that it is. but I certainly don't mind.

Feeling ... happy, but tired. There's so much going on it seems and it appears to be catching up with me. I could fall asleep almost any time I sit down for a few minutes.

Disliking ... all the many oversized loads going by our house daily. They're damaging the road. I only hope once they're done the road will get fixed, but I'm not holding my breath.

Loving ... the warmer temperature and the sunshine. I've been so cold the past few days so I'm trying to soak up some of this delightful heat from the sun.

Playing ... not much of anything this week so far other than some Uno.

Cleaning ... I'm not done deep cleaning our house yet. I always find it amazing how fast all the little corners and tucked away places can get dirty. 

Doing all this deep cleaning has me pondering, trying to decide if I have enough gumption to tackle refinishing some furniture. Especially my china cupboard. Time has not been kind to it. Several handles are missing from the bottom drawers and there are so many scuff marks from when little ones bumped things into it as they were running through the house. 

I'm thinking I'd like to paint it an off white of some kind. Right now it's a Washington Cherry wood. 

I think I'd like the update, but would I come to regret painting it?

Creating ... I have three pieces of lightweight upholstery fabric here that I want to use tomorrow to sew some fun projects. Rosie Mae wants a hanging bag contraption to use to keep her plastic grocery bags in.

 While I make one for her I'm going to go ahead and make one for me as well, in a different fabric. It will be nice to have a proper place for them instead of where I keep them stuffed now.

The third piece of fabric I want to use to recover the seat of our step stool/ high chair/ bar stool. Not sure exactly what to call it. The vinyl seat has seen better days so a new seat cover will give it a renewed life.

Blueberry Ice Cream

     LV gave me a lovely ice cream machine for Christmas. I have enjoyed trying different recipes for ice cream and gelatos, but this week I decided I want to try my hand at creating my own recipe. I'm so glad I did. It just happened to become our favorite ice cream yet. 

    I jotted everything down as I did it, so I won't forget if I ever want to make it again. I 'm glad I did, because I already have requests to make it again. Since it was such a hit I decided to share it with you as well.

Blueberry Ice Cream

1¼ c wild blueberries (frozen is fine)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
½ c. sugar
Pinch of salt

Combine and bring to a boil. Stirring constantly. Boil for about a minute or so. Remove from heat and cool. Pour into a blender and blend.

In a medium size bowl beat:

1 egg

Add 
½ c sugar
½ Tbsp cornstarch

Mix well then add:

¾ c. whole milk
½ heavy cream
blended blueberries 

Heat in top of double boiler until thickened.

Cool and freeze according to your ice cream freezer instructions. Mine took about 30 minutes. Scoop into a container and tuck it in the freezer until ready to eat. 

Thanksgiving Chili

    Thanksgiving Chili ... or you could rename. We won't be having it on Thanksgiving, but I'm guessing the ingredients reminded someone of the holiday, hence the name.

    Some of us were a bit skeptical about this chili when we saw the ingredients, but we all loved it. So flavorful. It's a definite keeper and has already been made several times.

    I had a few readers ask for the recipe, so here it is.

    Thanksgiving Chili

½ lb. ground turkey

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped sweet bell pepper (we used red and orange)

14½ oz can diced tomatoes

15 oz can pumpkin

15½ oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

½ cup water
½ cup medium salsa
2 tsp. chili powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp. cumin
14½ oz can chicken broth

    In a large pot saute turkey, onions, and bell peppers until turkey is browned. Mix in tomatoes, pumpkin, beans, water, salsa, and seasonings. Give a quick stir and then add the broth. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for twenty minutes. Stir occasionally.

For a vegetarian option omit the turkey, and substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Pineapple Cream Pie

     The latest new recipe we tried for our 52 pie challenge was a hit. If you love pineapple it's certainly worth a try.

Pineapple Cream Pie

4 eggs (save three egg whites)

1 cup sugar

4 Tbsp cornstarch

½ cup cream

½ tsp salt

½ tsp. vanilla

1-1/4 cup crushed pineapple

2-½ cup milk (scalded)

Beat the three egg yolks and one whole egg. Add sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Mix well. Add cream, pineapple, and vanilla. Mix well. Add hot milk. Beat egg whites until stiff, then gently fold into pineapple mixture. Divide into two unbaked pie shells. Bake at 350º for 40-45 minutes. Cool and then chill before serving.

S ~ Salmon Wellington

    At the request of several of my readers, and because today is letter 'S' in the A-Z challenge, I will be sharing the recipe for the Salmon Wellingtons I had made last month.

     I wish I had taken more pictures, especially one of it cut open where you could see the beauty of the inside, but this is all I have.

   

Salmon Wellington

3 tablespoons butter

3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

1 medium onion, chopped

1 bag fresh spinach

1 teaspoon salt, for spinach

½ teaspoon pepper, for spinach

½ cup breadcrumb

6 oz cream cheese

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 box puff pastry, softened to room temperature

3 pieces of salmon, skin removed (I cut three strips about 2 inches wide from the giant salmon we had)

1 teaspoon salt, for salmon

1 teaspoon pepper, for salmon

1 egg, beaten

In a large cast iron skillet or any large frying pan. (I'm partial to cast iron) melt butter and saute onions and garlic until translucent. Add spinach, and salt and pepper. Stir until spinach has been wilted. Add cheeses and breadcrumbs. Stir until combined and set aside.

Unroll the puff pastry dough and place a piece of salmon on it, spoon a third of the onion, spinach, cheese mixture on top and press and shape firmly. Trim extra dough away and then fold and tuck salmon in snugly, trimming away any extra dough for the second time. Repeat with the second sheet of dough. For the third piece of salmon take all your dough scraps and do the best you can to make another wellington. It won't be nearly as pretty, but equally as delicious.

Place seam side down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

With a sharp knife carefully score the top of the dough in diamond shape pattern. Brush with your beaten egg and pop into a preheated 425º oven onto the middle rack. Bake for 20 -25 minutes.

C ~ Chocolate Gobs

    I haven't made many gobs over the years because I never liked the fillings, even though I tried a variety of different recipes. The pudding-like fillings were messy. Other fillings were too sweet, and I didn't want to simply use a regular buttercream frosting.
     When I discovered this recipe I had high hopes for it, and it didn't disappoint. I made a few small tweaks and it has become a new family favorite.

Chocolate Gobs

½ cup butter
½ cup butter flavored crisco
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tbsp vanilla
4 cups flour
1 cup cocoa powder
2½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Mix butter, crisco, and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.  Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add a third of it to your sugar and egg mixture and mix well. Add half of the milk and mix until incorporated. Add half of your remaining flour mixture and mix. Pour in the last cup of milk, mixing well, and finally your remaining flour mixture. Beat well.

Spoon dough into about two inch balls. (The dough is soft so actual ball shape was not achieved.) Drop on parchment paper lined cookie sheets about three inches apart. You will want to leave approximately 3 inches between each one. Bake at 350º for 10 - 11 minutes.

Gently slide entire parchment paper sheet, cookies and all onto a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely before removing from parchment paper.

Marshmallow Filling

2 cups butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
16 oz. marshmallow fluff

Hand mix butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until incorporated and then go ahead and beat. Add marshmallow fluff, mixing until everything is evenly nice and fluffy.

Spread a thick layer between two cookies.

I wrapped each gob individually to keep them from sticking together while stored.

Random Bits + A Recipe

     This morning when I checked Facebook I had a new invite to like a page. That wasn't surprising. Hardly a day passes that I don't get a new invite or two. I usually ignore them, but the name of the page I was invited to like intrigued me enough that I hopped over to check it out before deciding not to accept the invitation.
      For some reason I decided to take a look to see how many other page invitations I had waiting to accept or decline. The sheer number surprised me. Nine hundred forty eight! It would take way too much time to go through and decline them all, so I'll resume ignoring them. I wonder how long it will take to get to an even thousand.

~~~~~

      I'm looking for a light hearted fiction book to read next. Something that's fluff, an easy read that hopefully gives me a few good laughs.
     I finished a book earlier this week that was more of a heavy read. Disturbing actually, at the end of the book I closed it and became covered in goose bumps. I hadn't thought it would affect me quite like it did, but being reminded of the horrors the Native Americans suffered at the hands of those in authority was chilling.
     So light hearted fluff is what I need to read next to balance out my reading. If you have any suggestions I'm open to hear them.

~~~~~

     I have two new pie recipes I'm considering to bake tomorrow. Both fascinate and scare me just a little. Which should it be, a grape pie or a poppy seed pie? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

~~~~~

    I got multiple requests for the recipe of the Bob Andy pie I had made earlier this month.  So here we go.

Bob Andy Pie

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
4 Tbsp flour
½ tsp. cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp butter (melted)
3 eggs, beaten separately
2 cups milk

Mix dry ingredients. Add milk, melted butter, and beaten egg yolks and mix well. Fold in beaten egg whites. Pour into 2 unbaked pie crusts and bake at 400º for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350º and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

    The second pie I made for my 52 pies challenge was an apple pie, using an old favorite recipe that I had shared here. It turned out as delicious as always.

    Week three's pie was a new one, and since it was a hit with everyone I'm going to go ahead and share the recipe with you.

I tried to get a decent picture featuring the layers of the pie. It didn't turn out the greatest, but at least you get to have an idea of how the yumminess looked.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

2 eggs - beaten
1 - 8 oz package cream cheese - softened
2-3/4 cup powdered sugar

Beat until smooth and pour into an unbaked pie shell. (My favorite pie crust recipe can be found here.) Bake at 350º until golden brown.. Somewhere between 30 - 40 minutes.

Allow to cool completely and top with two cups of blueberry pie filling. If desired, add an 8 oz container of cool whip on top.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving to allow everything to set better.

If you decide to use my pie crust recipe ... I had a lot of left over pie dough this time, since I didn't want to make multiple pie. It can be frozen, but I opted to make herbed crackers, and a few other little treats with it instead.

Busy Family

    One little known fact about me ... I love cookbooks, trying new recipes, and working in the kitchen.
    Okay, long time readers of my blog may already know that. Judging by the stacks of cookbooks I check out from the library regularly I'm sure the librarians know it. Receiving cookbooks as gifts may be a sign that friends and family know it as well. I guess it may not be such a little known fact after all.
   A little over a month ago I received a new cookbook, Busy Family Menu Planning. I paged through it a little, noting the many different recipes that I wanted to try. It was close to Christmas though, and I had already planned our menus until after the holidays which meant it took a little time before I returned to my new cookbook.

   Once I did though, oh my! I love it! It stands out above all the other cookbooks I have ever used. First of all, I want to make every single recipe in the book. That's huge! No other cookbook has ever come close to that. Oh, we've attempted cooking our way through a cookbook before, but there were always so many things we didn't care for that we gave up. This cookbook has recipe after recipe of things I know my family will love. All of them! I will finally be able to cook my way through an entire cookbook, with the family appreciating everything I make.
    What makes this cookbook extra special is that it is set up into ten weeks. Each week has a menu prepared with recipes for breakfast and dinner, and a convenient complete shopping list. It makes it so easy! I love menu planning, but I've really been loving having it planned out for me already.
    We have a birthday coming up soon, and the one celebrating has already requested her favorite (so far) from the book for her birthday dinner. Chicken and Dumplings, made in the slow cooker.

     I really can't say enough about how much I love this book. I love that there are full color pictures of each recipe and easy instructions. I love the pre-planned menus and shopping lists. I love that it easily lays flat and you don't have to struggle to have it remain open at the correct recipe as you're cooking. And of course I love all the delicious recipes. The first evening I used it I managed to get something on one of the pages. I was so disappointed in myself, but wouldn't you know it ... with the semi gloss paper the pages are made of I was able to wipe it off without any damage to my new book.
    Last evening I reached out to the creator of this cookbook to tell her how much I love it, and that I'm planning to write about it on my blog. I was not asked to do a review, I simply wanted to share about a cookbook that has a cookbook lover like me, excited.
    She offered to share a link where you can sign up with your email and receive week one of menu planning, shopping list, and recipes to download, for free! So generous! You can do that here.
    You can order your own copy of the cookbook here.
    So far it seems each week of menus is better than the previous one, and every single recipe we've made has been delicious. I can't wait to cook my way through the remainder of the book, and then continue using it regularly in the years to come. It's a true gem in the world of cookbooks, and I'd love if you could use it to cook along with me.

Poblano Sausage Pillows

Driving home from the library yesterday at 4 PM my mind turned to what we'll be having for supper. And then it hit me, I had forgotten to thaw the meat I needed. I mentally scanned the refrigerator and pantry supplies to see what I could make instead.

I had a pound of sausage and two poblano peppers in the refrigerator, but what to make with them when I had other menu plans for their use, that wasn't going to work tonight. And then an idea was born.

Supper was a great hit, and no one guessed it was a last minute idea. We enjoyed it so much I knew I had to jot down how I made it, so we can enjoy it again someday, and I decided to share it with you. It's been a while since I shared one of my recipes here.

The name, because Steven thought they looked like little pillows.

Poblano Sausage Pillows

1½ cup warm water
1½ Tbsp sugar
1½ tsp salt
1½ Tbsp melted butter (or vegetable oil)
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp yeast (heaping)
3 cups flour

Mix water, sugar, salt, and melted butter. Add one cup flour, yeast, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper. Mix until smooth. Add another cup of flour and mix well. Add remaining cup of flour and stir until it gets hard to do so. Use your hands to work in the rest of the flour. If dough is still sticky keep adding a little more flour until it no longer sticks to your fingers when you poke it.
Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

In the meantime start working on the filling.

Filling

2 poblano peppers
1 lb sausage
Colby cheese (sliced)

Char the poblanos until covered in black blisters. I prefer using the top rack in the oven and broiling on high. Turn the pepper to make sure each side gets blistered. Remove from heat and place in a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap to keep the steam trapped inside.

Once cooled use a paper towel and wipe off the charred skin of the pepper. Remove top of pepper and slice it open. Remove and discard seeds. Dice pepper to your preferred size. (I like mine small-ish) Set aside.

In a skillet, fry up sausage. Drain, and then stir in the diced poblanos.

At the end of the 45 minute rising time for the dough … spray cooking spray on counter top and place your dough on it. Roll out to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut into squares. Place a one inch square slice of Colby cheese in center and spoon some of your poblano sausage mixture on top. Fold edges in to form a ball. Place edges side down on parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350º for 20 minutes.

I enjoyed sour cream with mine to help with the heat from the peppers, but the rest of the family enjoyed theirs without.

Leftovers made an easy lunch for LV and Kenneth to take to work today. And since I forgot to take a picture when they were fresh from the oven last night, here's how they look after being in the refrigerator overnight.

Thanksgiving Potatoes

    For our family, no Thanksgiving is complete without these potatoes. We dream of them all year, but only indulge on this one special day.

 

Thanksgiving Potatoes

 

8 medium potatoes

1 - 8 oz package cream cheese (softened)

4 - Tbsp butter + small dollop

1 package Wind & Willow Bacon Stuffed Mushroom Appetizer Mix

½ cup heavy whipping cream

Milk

Salt

 

Peel and chunk potatoes, rinse in cold water and drain. Place in cooking pot. Personally, I prefer using my dutch oven. Cover potatoes with water, add half a teaspoon of salt, and a small dollop of butter. Bring to a boil. Cook until soft. Drain off water, and mash the potatoes thoroughly. Add cream cheese, butter, and the Wind & Willow mixture. Mix thouroughly. Add cream and mix again. Add milk a little at a time until the potatoes have reached your desired consistency. Taste to see if you need more salt ... adjust to suit your taste. Return to stove and heat, while stirring constantly. Dish out, serve and enjoy!

Amish Church Peanut Butter

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things about going to church, other than getting to play with my friends afterwards, was getting to eat the delicious peanut butter sandwiches that were always served as the noon meal.

I made up half a batch for Christmas and shared it with some of our friends. Sadly I can't share it with all my readers, but happily, I can share the recipe.

Amish Church Peanut Butter

2 lbs. creamy peanut butter
¾ cup butter
¾ cup brown sugar
6 cups marshmallow crème
¾ cup corn syrup
1¼ cup hot water

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and sugar. In a big bowl combine peanut butter, hot water, corn syrup, and marshmallow crème. Add the melted butter and sugar mixture and mix thoroughly. It should be easily spreadable. You can add more hot water if you want it a little thinner.

Store in refrigerator, but warm to room temperature before using.

Apple Cider Cupcakes

In one of my Picture my Week posts I had shared how Rosebud had made Apple Cider cupcakes, and got quite a few requests for the recipe. I decided today seems like a great day to finally share it.

 

Apple Cider Cupcakes

½ cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup apple cider
1-2/3 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt

Combine butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and mix until thoroughly blended. Set aside. In a separate bowl combine remaining four dry ingredients. Alternate adding dry mixture and apple cider to butter/sugar mixture, beating well after each addition.

Scoop into cupcake tins, lined with cupcake wrappers, of course.

Bake at 350º for 17-19 minutes. Until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Frosting:

1 cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mix butter and brown sugar. Add remaining ingredients and beat until light and fluffy. Frost cooled cupcakes. You can garnish with half an apple slice if you prefer.

Baked Donuts

As a child, donut making day was always a big deal. We didn't have them very often, but when there was an auction or some type of community fund raiser there was always a donut making station that I enjoyed watching.  Usually a group of children would gather to watch the donuts drop into the giant pots of hot oil and bob up sizzling and beautifully golden brown. Most of the time it didn't take very long before a mother took pity on all the "hungry" watching children and gave each of us a delightfully soft, warm donut, all sticky from the glaze it had been dipped into, before shooing us out of the way.

 

I've made donuts occasionally, but have never liked the after taste that comes from deep frying them. So when Rosebud discovered a recipe for baked donuts we knew we had to give them a try, and OH MY!! They turned out so, so good! Soft, chewy, and utterly delicious without any of that deep fried after taste.

 

 

Baked Donuts

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Topping:
½ cup butter, melted
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

In a large bowl, measure in warm milk and stir in yeast and sugar. Add the butter and stir until mostly melted. Lightly beat the eggs and add them to the milk mixture  Next add the flour and salt. Beat the dough with a wooden spoon and eventually your hands if needed add a few more tablespoons of flour. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be very soft and smooth but still slightly sticky - don't overflour! Knead the dough for a few minutes and then transfer it to a lightly greased bowl. Cover and allow to rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.

 Punch down the dough and roll it out to about ½ inch thickness on a lightly floured counter. Using a doughnut cutter or a 2-3 inch circle cookie cutter, cut out circles in the dough. Place the circles on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. Be sure to make the holes large enough that as the doughnuts rise again and bake, they don't fill in the doughnut hole with the puffiness of the dough. Cover them and allow them to rise for about another 45 minutes, until they are puffed and nearly doubled.

You can take all the donut holes and mush them together and roll them out to make more donuts, or you can bake them as they are to make delightful bite sized treats.

Bake in a 375º oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Start checking them  around minute 8. They should still be pale on top, not golden and browned, and just barely baked through.

Remove them from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes. Dip each one in the melted butter and toss or sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar. Absolutely delicious while still warm.

If you don't want a cinnamon sugar topping you can omit it and go for a plain glaze, a chocolate ganache, or any other type or flavor of icing you desire.

Grape-nuts

Growing up, we always kept a supply of grape-nuts on hand. Since store bought cereals were a very rare treat, our favorite cold cereal was grape-nuts. With five hungry brothers we went through a lot of them, and sad to say, I learned to not enjoy making them.

For the first time since we got married, last week I finally pulled out the recipe to make grape-nuts. The girls were amused and intrigued by the very pioneer-ish look of the batter, and couldn't imagine how it would possibly be turned into a good cereal.

Much to their surprise, everyone loves it, and I see it becoming a go to recipe for our family, successfully breaking the teenage promise I had made to myself to not be making grape-nuts once I'm in charge of all food decisions.

They take simple basic ingredients, and while they do take a long time to make .... I can't believe I'm saying this ...... they're worth it. Here's the recipe I used, but you may want to reduce the size.

Grape-nuts

7½ cups milk
½ cup vinegar
4 cups blackstrap molasses
2 Tbsp baking soda
2 Tbsp vanilla
1 Tbsp salt
5 lb whole wheat flour

In a bowl combine milk and vinegar. Allow to set for a minute or two.

In a large bowl, as in, a really large bowl combine molasses, milk mixture, salt, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir until thoroughly combined. Add flour, about ¼ of it at a time, mixing well after each addition. Divide batter into 3 - 9x13 cake pans and bake at 400º for 40 minutes.

Once cool, cut into chunks and grate. I can't imagine trying to do it without my King Cutter, but LV's family used to use a handheld grater when they made them.

Spread the grated crumbles onto a cookie sheet  and bake at 210º stirring every 10-15 minutes until they're dry and hard. It took me 12½ hours to dry them all, working with two large cookie sheets in the oven the entire time.

Pour into a bowl to cool, then store in an airtight container.

These are really filling. When eating I would suggest starting off with only half a cup full. They absorb a lot of milk, so we always add more than you would think would be needed.

Cannoli

Due to popular demand; here is the recipe for the cannoli we made last week.

 

To start you want to make sure you have a few essential items on hand.

 

• A pair of tongs
• A candy thermometer
• A set of cannoli forms
• An oven mitt.

To make the pastry shell you will need:

 

2 cups flour

3 Tbsp Crisco

2 Tbsp sugar

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¾ cup Sherry

1 egg slightly beaten

 

In addition you will want:

• a beaten egg white
• vegetable oil for frying

Gently whisk together flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Add Crisco and mix until you have nice even crumbs. Drizzle a third of the Sherry over your flour mixture and mix it. Drizzle half of the remaining Sherry and mix some more. Finally add the slightly beaten egg and the remainder of the Sherry. Mix well, form into a ball, and refrigerate for about an hour and a half.

 

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough until it is very thin, as in .... almost the thickness of a dime. Now comes the fun part. Cut out circles about four inches in diameter. I happened to have a cookie cutter that was the perfect size, but you can also make a pattern with parchment paper or cardboard from and empty cereal box and lay it on your rolled out dough and cut around it with a sharp knife.

 

Pour some vegetable oil into a sauce pan until it's about two inches deep. Heat it to 380º This is where it's important to have a candy thermometer.

 

While you are keeping an eye on the rising temperature of your oil, gently wrap one of your dough circles around a cannoli form. As tempting as it may be to wrap it around the middle, it is wise to situate it closer to one end than the other. Brush some beaten egg white on the edge of the dough where it will overlap and press to seal.  

 

When the oil is hot slip into the oven mitt, take the tongs and firmly hold the end of the cannoli form and lower it into the hot oil. Hold it in the oil for exactly one minute. Remove and place to cool, on a wire rack that has been covered with paper towels. Repeat with your remaining forms. I had only four forms to work with, but by the time the fourth one was fried the first one was cool enough to remove from the cannoli shell and the steps repeated, wrap the dough, seal the dough, dip the dough in oil and fry. You will want to keep a careful eye on the temperature and adjust the heat as necessary. Since you're working with one cannoli at a time it's easy for the oil to overheat, and we wouldn't want it to catch on fire.

For the filling, I scoured numerous websites and cookbooks. Most of them wanted a ricotta based filling, but I was afraid LV wouldn't care for the texture. I was happy to find a recipe that told me to simply fill with our favorite vanilla custard pudding, which is what I did. I had it prepared and ready to be piped into the shells by spooning it into a Ziploc bag with the bottom corner snipped off.

When the shells were thoroughly cold I dipped some of their ends into melted chocolate, and left the others plain. I piped the pudding inside, and they were finally ready to serve.

It sounds complicated, but each step in itself is easy. And the end results are so worth it!

Cherry Chocolate Bars

Do you remember the Anne of Green Gables books and how Anne used to have friends that she called kindred spirits and later referred to them as those who belong to the race of Joseph?

I have had a few friends like that, one of them is my friend Sonya. She and her children come over several times a month and somehow we have the tradition of always making some kind of dessert to enjoy together.

Last week we had these bars that are totally scrumptious!

Cherry Chocolate Bars

2 cups sugar
1¾ cup flour
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp. salt
5 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla

In a large mixing bowl measure all ingredients in order given. Mix well. Pour into a greased 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes.

Once it has cooled combine:

1 - 8 oz. Cool Whip
1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese (softened)

Spread over the chocolate bars.

Over the cream cheese layer pour:

1 can cherry pie filling

Refrigerate for a few hours before serving. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Apple Bars

There's a big old apple tree growing in the field behind the house. I have no idea where it comes from or what kind of apples it produces, though I would like to think it's a descendent of one of the trees Johnny Appleseed started.

It yields the most beautiful, big, juicy apples that taste different than any other apples I have ever eaten. Totally delicious, and worth the effort to go pick them before the cows eat all the ones that drop.

With an abundance of apples on hand we decided to try some new apple recipes. It paid off and we now have a new family favorite. One that I know we'll be making often.

Apple Bars

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice

Mix well until nice and crumbly. Press half of it into bottom of a 9x13 pan and bake at 325 for 10 minutes. Set remaining crumb mixture aside while you make the filling and the crust is baking.

Filling:

1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1 egg
2 cups apples, shredded (about 2 apples)

Mix all together and spread evenly over crumb crust as soon as you remove it from the oven. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Enjoy!

Hickory Nut Tea

Hickory nuts, though a pain and a half to try getting out of their shell, are some of my favorite nuts.

Apparently they were the favorite nuts for one of my aunts as well. She chose to serve hickory nut tea as a special treat for the bridal party at her wedding.

We used to have several hickory nut trees on our property while I was growing up. We would gather just enough of the nuts to make a batch of tea, and leave the rest for the squirrels to tuck away for winter.

Thanksgiving was made complete by enjoying a cup of steaming hickory nut tea at bedtime, a delectable treat, that never lasted long enough.

Hickory Nut Tea

1/2 cup finely chopped hickory nuts (toasted)
1 cup water

Simmer until water has been reduced to about 1/2 cup and it has a nice golden brown color.

Add:

2-3 cups milk
Brown sugar to desired sweetness

Heat until hot, but not simmering.

Serve.

Personally I think it's better than hot chocolate, but maybe that's only because it takes more effort and it was a once a year treat.

Dandelions

Dandelions, though often an unwelcome part of spring, were often put to good use by Amish families. The tender little leaves made an interesting salad, and the blossoms when battered and deep fried made tasty little treats for a springtime dinner.

In some communities dandelions were welcomed and put to use by making dandelion wine.

Wine of any type was forbidden in the community we lived in, but when looking at some Amish community recipe books I found the more conservative communities always have a section of homemade wine recipes.

Including this one:

Dandelion Wine

8 cups dandelion blossoms
1 gallon boiling water
1 Tbsp yeast
5 lb sugar
3 oranges, sliced
3 lemons, sliced

In a large bowl, preferably glass, or a crock, pour boiling water over dandelion blossoms. Let set for three days, stirring every day. Strain at the end of the third day. To the stained liquid add oranges, lemons, yeast, and sugar. Let set three more days, stirring every day. Strain, place in crock and let set at room temperature for four weeks. Bottle and cap.

I have never tried it, don't really have an interest to, but if anyone else does will you let me know how it is?