All That

Hi, it's me, Augie. I'm growing up fast, I'll be ten months old on Sunday. I'm having good success in Mom Training classes, she thinks that she's the one in charge and that she's training me but we all know who's the boss. She and Dad are still very busy in the kitchen every day. He with getting the cabinetry all fitted and Mom with trying out the new appliances and testing new (to her) recipes; so, I am posting on her behalf today. When she's not cooking, and we're in the sewing room, she's been watching a LOT of the Pioneer Woman on the Food Network, that's where today's recipes come from. She asked if I would share them with you. The first one is called The Everything Sugar Cookie (Dough). She and Dad have been raving about them. 

They have crunched up pretzels and potato chips in them along with the other ingredients. Naturally I have no idea what any of those things taste like but Mom and Dad find these additions comical, as well as delicious, or so they say. They look good, don't they? 

Speaking of looking good: people in our Mom Training classes remark on how 

handsome I am all the time, I thought you might like a profile view. You're welcome.  

Another sweet treat from the kitchen this week: Very Berry Mug Cakes. You can click on the underlined hyperlinks to take you directly to the recipes to try them for yourself. Clever, huh? I believe that these were a hit, too; not that I would know. I did hear Mom tell Dad that the hardest thing about this recipe was finding clear vanilla, she had to go to three stores. For me, in case you're wondering, I eat the same thing every day- Purina ProPlan Puppy, not that I'm complaining, but it sure doesn't have aroma like something piping hot from the oven. 

That's all for today, I'm not long-winded like someone who normally posts here.

I'll be back soon. Growing up here really is great, it's all that... and a bag of chips kibble.

Life is Good!

 

Upstairs, Downstairs

With apologies to the British drama series of the same name, Mr. G and I have  been living a very "Upstairs, Downstairs" existence over the past three + months. For the most part I am in the sewing room during the day, or in the kitchen; while he's been sequestered in his basement-level woodworking shop. Unlike the series, he's not down there because he's servant or staff but rather because he's consumed with  cabinet making for our soon-to-be kitchen re-do! It's exciting! The upstairs activities of sewing and cooking have taken an interesting turn as of late. While in the sewing room, and stitching away, I have been watching cooking shows on several streaming networks. Most recently it's been The Pioneer Woman on Food Network. Every once in a while I have to stop and jot down a recipe to make later. As a result, we've been eating well lately! These Wafflemaker Hash Browns proved to be intriguing; I had to give them a try. You might want to download this recipe, we loved it; it's a winner! I'll be posting a few more of the latest tried-and-true recipes in the days to come. 

Current scenes from downstairs, the basement workshop. The cabinetry is all made from solid Hard Maple. He's running out of space down there for all the face frames, drawers, raised panels and piles of materials. This is a big job; it's been much more time consuming than he ever imagined! He has created every panel, every dovetail joint, every drawer and every frame one at a time. Any space that's not populated with lumber is piled high with boxes of drawer slides, hinges, hardware and other supplies. The best representation of the accurate color of these cabinets is in the picture below. Even though the color is off in this collage you can see the enormous amount of work that he's put in downstairs since the first of this year. All of these will receive a clear finish coat before moving upstairs in the next few months for the big reveal!

This photo of our laundry room reveals the true, over-all color and look, it served as the audition space for what we thought we'd like in the kitchen. It's so much lighter and brighter than what we had; we loved the change and voted to move on with it! We are updating our countertops (as shown above), light fixtures and all of the appliances as well, it's time for a whole new look! But, since it's going to be the same old people living here, I'm trying to 'up' my game with what's set on the table come mealtime, it's the least I can contribute. 😉

Wish me luck!

Life is Good!

A Taste of Home

We received a big surprise in the mail last week; a time-capsule of sorts, in the form of a file folder chock-a-block full of old family recipes from my mother-in-law's recipe box (it was a BIG one!). My husband's sister cleaned out a cabinet and came across some real treasures, she decided to bag them up and send them on their way. We went through them for hours on end, there was so much to discover and reminisce about. I found a note that I had written to my not-yet in-laws when they accepted a job transfer and moved away from my home town in 1973. Included, also, were recipes that my mother-in-law jotted on the backs of deposit slips out of her checkbook (she would copy them out of magazines when she sat under the dryer at the hair dresser), she had lovely and distinctive penmanship. Some of the recipes were identified as coming from certain family members and church friends (Aunt Tillie, Cousin Em, Mrs. So-and-So), these were names distantly familiar to my husband. She was of Swedish descent, a great number of these family and church recipes are for delectable pastries and desserts made from scratch.  A few of the recipes were mine, copied for their Grandma by my own children when they were small. It's the handwriting, on all of these, that goes straight to my heart. Mom had a unique "rating" system on these recipes designated by a series of *s. A rating of *** was, by all means, a recipe to repeat! I pulled a few of those top rated ones and ran to the grocery store for ingredients. I made a chicken dish for dinner that Mr. G. is still raving about! "So, you like it?", I asked, "it's like a taste of home" he replied. I have a few more surprises for him planned for this week. The best comment, written by my mother-in-law, at the bottom of a asterisk-free recipe for Taco Salad was this one: "better not fix this again!" I'm still laughing over that comment; why didn't she simply throw that one away?  

We'll never know, but I'll take her advice and forego fixing this one.

But, I simply cannot throw it away!

😉

Life is Good!

The J-less Alphabet and Other Things

I'm still cross-stitching my winter evenings away. This little sampler was a big surprise; there's no letter "J" on the pattern. That sent me scrambling for answers. My friend, LP, informed me that there was no "J" street in Washington DC. "Back in the day", she said, "the letters "I" and "J" were so similar in form that Charles L'Enfant, the designer, refused to use the "J" for a street name to avoid confusion." This was news to me, further digging yielded the information that many samplers, dated well into the nineteenth century, were missing the "J", as this letter is a fairly young one, coming into usage only sometime after 1820. Live and learn! My plan for this little mini is to combine it with a school house quilt block or two (or three) and create a small pillow with it. 

We cleaned out the attic yesterday and found this gem of a board game! It appears to be brand new; the instruction sheet is dated 1987. I'm guessing that our children received this game as a gift from their grandmother; my MIL was wild about ALF! This is a true blast from the past. I couldn't discard it!

Our dinner selections have been upped a notch a few evenings a month. Our son and daughter in law gave us a free meal box coupon to "Every Plate" a while back. I've continued to subscribe, we average three meals a week every other week and it's really not a bad deal at all. Everything comes in the box, meat, fresh veggies, seasonings and a step-by-step recipe card. The meals are portioned perfectly so there's no leftovers or waste of any unique ingredients. This meal, above, is Herby Parmesan Crusted Chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted zucchini. Every single selection that we've tried has been wonderful and we've sampled quite a few of their offerings. For us, it has gotten us out of the rut of the "same old thing" for dinners and challenged me with a few new and exciting ideas for food prep. I'm receiving no compensation from Every Plate, this is just a tried-and-true testimonial. If you're looking for something new and different you might want to give it a try. 

Remember that applique inspiration that hit me when I visited the National Quilt Museum recently? Well this old UFO is out of the box, blocks are completed and it's ready for quilting. I'm loving its folk-arty-ness and its simplicity. 

We were in the grips of an ice storm earlier today. Hopefully the worst has passed; as I type, the ice has dropped out of the trees now and the temperature has risen slightly above freezing. All the while I had my fingers crossed for the power to remain on~ it did!

Life is Good!

Soup's On!

It's Thursday~ that means it's homemade-soup-for-lunch day around here recently. For years I've bookmarked soup recipes and never made them; that all changed this month. As I mentioned in an earlier post, with no parties or open house this year, I find myself with no one else to cook for but us! Capitalizing on that fact I began a new weekly tradition. Two weeks ago it was homemade split pea with ham, last week it was chicken noodle and a rich, thick, hearty beef stew today. So far there have been no complaints. I've got my eye on a potato soup for after the holidays. I'm happy to share these recipes via email if you'd like to try one, or all, of them. 

Soup~ it's what's for lunch!

Life is Good!

On Being Efficient...

Each and every day I endeavor to be efficient. I live to make the best use of my time! So, a few weeks ago I volunteered to bring food for Fellowship Time between Sunday School and Worship for tomorrow. I knew what I wanted to make and planned out my times to make them. A batch of Jack O' Lantern Jumble, mini pumpkin muffins and homemade cinnamon rolls. I decided that I'd make a batch of the snack mix mid-week as a treat for Mr. G (and for Lucy Ann who was coming to spend the night on Friday). I had an extremely busy day on Wednesday (three scheduled medical procedures: bone density scan, mammogram and vascular ultrasound, all strategically scheduled to maximize efficiency, of course!) and I decided to make that first batch on Thursday when we were at home having the wood-stove insert installed in our fireplace. (This was more of an energy efficient move on our part, but efficient nonetheless!) So, I gathered all the ingredients on the countertop (I've made this for years on end!) and got ready to make up the Jack O' Lantern Jumble-- could I find my recipe? No! I am organized; my physical, printed, recipes are relegated to folders placed alphabetically: "appetizers, beverages, breads/coffee cakes, breakfast foods, cookies/brownies, desserts"... you get the picture. I was on a wild goose chase searching for the recipe and, all the while, wasting time! Grrrrrr. Let me tell you, these occurrences get the best of me! Finally, I found the recipe, folded and tucked behind another (???) in "appetizers". Why there? Who knows?!! I need a "snack" file.

I clipped this from the old Country Threads "Goat Gazette" newsletter some 20 years ago*. Needless to say, as soon as I found it I made up a batch for the countertop in preparation for a second batch today. 

The woodstove insert installation went much more efficiently. It's just been too warm to try it out yet. 

So, early this morning I got up to make the dough for the cinnamon rolls. Again, my tried and true recipe eluded me. I was completely defeated. Mr. G. asked me what I was searching for. When I told him he swiftly dove into my recipe files and handed me exactly what I was looking for! When I asked him where he found it he responded "breads/coffee cakes". "Oh", I responded, "I'd forgotten it was in a page protector".  That's true, I did. I'd already been through that file twice. 🙄 Okay, so being efficient and being effective are two completely different things. I might just need to rework my system! Let me tell you a second thing: the kitchen smelled heavenly while those cinnamon rolls baked this morning!

*Interestingly: Country Threads posted this recipe on their "Chicken Scratch" blog this past week!

Life is Good!

For the Love of Honey

I have become spoiled by honey; good honey, really good honey. Over the years I have stepped away from grocery store honey and learned what a special treat raw and unfiltered honey can be, I can't ever go back. Depending on where honey is purchased, and from whom, sometimes the beekeepers will allow tastings and suggest certain honey varieties for certain purposes. I am enamored by the rich and unique flavors produced by the different plant pollinators and time of year that the honeys are harvested at the small, local apiaries. I use honey in cooking, for sweetening and often in my tea. I discovered a honey brand that I just love, and I try to buy my honey varieties exclusively from him if I happen to be in the vicinity. I was talking to our daughter on the phone the other day and she suggested a honey specialty store about an hour and a half from our home; it's a pretty day-trip there, in the North Carolina mountains. She is as picky about her honey as I am, so I wasn't worried. I double-checked the website to make sure that they were open. Mr. Goodneedle and I took a drive up there on Thursday. You probably already guessed where this story's going. Yep-- they were closed (the website failed to list that fact that they're closed during the week in the winter months!)!🙁 We bought some generic honey at the cheese store across the street and had an awesome barbecue lunch; the weather and the scenery were spectacular that day. I'll use that less-than-special honey in my cooking.

One thing that I use honey for is Granola. I make a big batch every other month or so and eat it every morning with a dollop of plain yogurt and a drizzle of honey over the top. Here's the recipe,  in case you'd like to make some for yourself. I've been making this for the last fifteen years or so, ever since we stayed at this Inn, I substitute dried cherries for the currants. 

My latest homemade obsession (and honey requirement) is Elderberry syrup. We take a TBSP every morning to boost our immune systems. I order the dried Elderberries from Amazon. Here's the recipe- cheers!

In the meantime I am planning another day trip-- 

one to the location of my favorite honey, the really, really good one. 😉

How far will you go out of your way for something that you really love?

Life is Good!

Up next: Alliteration

Granola Recipe

Here's the well-worn recipe card with the directions to make up the granola mentioned in my previous post. A few of you requested the recipe and not everyone was reach-able via email.  The only substitution that I make is to replace the currants with dried cherries. I can recommend the Inn too, it's been a while since we visited (2004!) but we remember this lovely B&B, and the innkeepers, fondly. 

Enjoy!

Life is Good!

Tea Time

As I had posted, earlier, I have been on a search for a perfect scone recipe. I have been trying to recreate the English scones that we had on a recent cruise, pictured below.



My version, from Lynnleigh's and my tea party last week, is shown at left. It turned out a little crumblier than I would have liked but the flavor was wonderful; I am going to keep making adjustments for texture. The recipe can be found here. I can't find clotted cream, so we used unsweetened, whipped cream; a healthy(!) slathering of that with a dollop of raspberry jam and it was ready for the official taste test.

Yes, this will do just fine!

Life is Good!

The Great Cookie Bake-Off

I haven't decorated any cookies for a while. It's time to make some snowflakes, snowmen, Valentine's hearts and other winter-themed cookies. To be honest, the reason that I have been a bit reluctant to return to this hobby craft obsession is because the recipe that I have been using for the cookie itself hasn't been my absolute favorite. It worked, it was sturdy enough and well-accepted but I kept thinking, in the back of my mind, that I needed to find a better, more delicious and delectable, cookie. One that would hold up to the vigors of royal icing and yet was delicate enough to melt in the mouth. Is this an unreal expectation?  I don't know, but nonetheless the experimentation has begun.

This recipe proved to be a good one, really good. I am linking to it here in case you would like to whip up your own small batch. The very fact that this one made only a small amount, perfect for my experiment, was the main reason that I chose it. It was, as indicated, both crisp and soft at the same time. Because there is no icing I did lightly sprinkle the tops with sanding sugar. It passed the taste test but I still feel there's room, maybe a teeny bit, for improvement. 

I returned to my tried and true cookie recipes; this cookbook was one from the early days of our marriage. I tried two sugar cookie recipes from this one, the book was a gift from my mother in 1976. 

This one tasted delicious but didn't stack up-- the sides spread during the baking process. If it can't hold its cut shape consistently it is not a contender for cut-out cookies. However, I did take these with me on retreat this past weekend and my fellow quilters were more than happy to eat up the results of my ongoing experiment!

Again, this recipe (#2 from the vintage book) did not hold its shape either, the sides spread. The flavor on these didn't  measure up either; they tasked okay blah; the whole purpose of my experimentation was to provide a cookie that is more than a mere vehicle for the decorative icing. 

That's three recipes and lots and lots of munching! How many experiments allow you to eat your rejects? Mr. Goodneedle suggests that I stay with the first cookie I tried, the small batch. I'm too full of cookies right now to think straight. I have one more to try, it's a tough job but someone has to do it!

Life is Good!

...and oh, so delicious...

Nannie's Recipes

It's blueberry season, my Dad and my sister went picking on Friday morning. I asked him if he wanted some of Nannie's recipes (his mother, my grandmother). "Sure" he replied. I have her recipe for Blueberry Cake and the recipe pictured here, in her handwriting, for Blueberry Pudding. I have made the Blueberry Cake recipe many times, it's always perfect-- even for breakfast! This Blueberry Pudding recipe is one that I remember eating at her house, but never preparing. I scanned the recipe in and e-mailed it to my Mom. She called yesterday: "have you looked at Nannie's recipe?", she asked, "there are no amounts!" Oh. I admit, I really hadn't read the recipe through for content; Mom was right. This made me laugh. I asked my mother if she was going to try making it, she wasn't sure. Two things that I am sure of though: 1- this recipe was delicious when my grandmother made it (however she did that!), and 2- her Blueberry Cake is a winner. You can make it by clicking on the link to get her recipe, it's a post from three years ago. Enjoy these recipes, from my family to yours; 'tis the season!

Life is Good!

What's For Dinner?

This is a frequent sight in our kitchen: a grocery list is being populated with needed items based on recipes from the meals planned for the coming week. How do you tackle this task? My approach to the job has become something of a ritual. My recipes are stored in expanding folders labeled accordingly: main dishes, breakfast foods, breads and coffee cakes, vegetables, salads, etc. What appears to be a mess here is actually quite orderly (at least to my thinking). I know what I am looking for while hunting for my tried and true lasagna recipe: it's hand jotted on the end flap of the lasagna noodles box. Who else would know this? I'm guessing no one. But, that's the way I have saved all my favorites. Some are penned by my mother, my grandmother, my daughter, my mother-in-law; these are the treasured recipes, the ones I return to over and over. I know which one is on what sheet of paper by size, color and design. These are not the only recipes I possess, not by a long shot!

Nearly thirteen years ago Mr. Goodneedle built me this cookbook cabinet for my birthday. I desperately needed a way to organize an ever-growing cookbook library. It was designed for this space; I wanted it to be tucked away, in plain sight, in this corner of our kitchen. You can see how many cookbooks it holds; on the top shelf of the bottom section, behind the doors, is my box of "organized" file folders. Do I use all of the other numerous cookbooks in my collection? Occasionally, yes. Do I have other recipes in virtual folders on my computer? Of course I do; I use online sources for new recipes that I want to try and am constantly spurred on with additional ideas by sites like Pinterest too. And yet, where do I always return, week after week? Yep, you know it, those files crammed chock-full of handwritten recipes proven by generations to be exactly the meal that I had in mind; there is great comfort contained there. So, what's for dinner at your house?

Life is Good!