Saturday Morning and My Husband's Great Sausage Gravy

It says Pop's Greasy Spoon and that's exactly what my husband likes, greasy fating food.  He makes the world's best gravy, plain or with sausage.  I prefer plain but this morning he made sausage gravy.  He also makes the world's best onion fried hamburgers.  I'm not kidding his burgers are better than any we have ever eaten at any burger flippin restaurant.

This is how he makes his gravy.

He breaks up the sausage and fries it.  When it is done he drains it on a paper towel.  He leaves the grease and the little tid bits in the bottom of the skillet.  Puts in about a cup of flour mixes it into the sausage grease and adds salt and pepper to taste.  He cooks the flour for about 3 to 5 minutes stirring constantly.  He used a small can of Milnot this morning (but he doesn't always do that).  He thinks it adds richness to the gravy.  He then adds about 3-4 cups of milk and stirs this slowly until it starts to thicken.  When the gravy is thick, he adds the cooked sausage and stirs well.  That's it!

This was a warm hearty breakfast to fuel my busy day.

Have a wonderful Saturday and get outside and enjoy this warm weather!

Jubliee of Waters

John Muir called winter storms the "jubilee of waters."  This was our jubilee of waters.  I can't say that the beauty of the sun sparkling through all that ice out ways the destruction it does to the trees.  The poor trees moaned from the weight of the ice and the branches snapped when they could stand the weight any more.  It actually sounds like a gun firing.

Thankfully, the wind was not blowing or we wouldn't have any trees left.  We had a good inch of ice on our shrubs and trees.  We will have an abundance of fire wood when this is all cut up.

I have been blessed this year with some wonderful clients who kept me very busy this holiday season.  That's the reason for no blogs lately.  I do have some wonderful ideas and some new recipes I'll be sharing with you this new year.  My clients are very open and receptive to new ideas and recipes and it makes my job a lot of fun.  I've been blessed and I'm very thankful!

Lemon Loaf

If you have had a little too much chocolate, if that's possible, you need to try this lemon loaf.  I got the recipe from a good friend on facebook.  She had posted it and it looked really good and I do like lemon. It's easy and really good.  It would make someone a wonderful gift for the holidays. 

I will give you the recipe and then tell you the changes I made in the recipe and you can choose what you would like to do.  :)

1 1/2 cups flour   
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup oil

Combine flour baking powder, baking soda and salt in mixing bowl.
Use a mixer and blend together eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, lemon extract and lemon juice.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until smooth.  Add oil and mix well.  Pour batter into a well greased 9x5 loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and until pick comes out clean.
When loaf is cool remove from pan and ice.  Let the icing set up before slicing.

Icing:  1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons whole milk, 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract.  Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

I used the zest of 1 1/2 lemons in place of lemon extract and I used fresh lemon juice.  The recipe didn't specify fresh or bottled.  In the icing, I used half and half and I used the zest of half a lemon in place of lemon extract as well as 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice.

Simple Life

A simple life in close contact with Nature is an absolute condition of happiness and peace.

Leo Tolstoy

Recipe Critic

If you have seen the magazine stands at the grocery store, I'm sure you have seen this cake on the front cover of Southern Living Magazine.  I always love their cakes but this one was a major disappointment for me.  It is a red velvet white chocolate cheesecake.  My picture looks pretty close to their picture for the inside of the cake.  Before I recommend something to my clients, I always like to try it first.  I was really excited to be able to offer this cake to my clients this season because it looks so festive for the holidays but personally I won't make it again.  The red velvet cake has the texture of a pound cake.  The cheesecake and the icing are really good but the red velvet I did not like. 

If you want to try it, it looks more intimidating than it really is.  It's really not hard.  You make two cheesecakes and three red velvet and then layer them and put the icing on the outside.  The cheesecakes need to be in the frig at least 8 hours before assembling. 

Dutch's Dip Beef Sandwich

Yesterday after I blogged, I thought I should have posted the recipe for the dip beef.  I mentioned that it was one of my husband's favorites but it was also one of my dad's favorites too.  Over the years, I have made some changes to the recipe for the better.  Like fresh onions instead of onion flakes and fresh rosemary instead of dried.  Just those two changes alone made this recipe out of the park.  Not to mention, your house smells absolutely wonderful while it's cooking.

I hope you will try this, you will be the star at your dinner party.

2-3 pound chuck roast ( I always buy two for my family, men will usually eat two sandwiches)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
4-5 beef bouillon cubes
3-4 bay leaves
1 large onion diced
4-5 sprigs of rosemary
1 package of French rolls (7-8 inches long) (Be sure and use French rolls the other rolls will fall apart when you dip them in the au jus.)

Place roast in a Dutch oven and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and then add all the other ingredients placing the rosemary of top of the roast.  Fill with water to the top edge of the meat.  Don't cover meat with water.  Bake for 6-7 hours at 275 degrees.

Remove meat from oven and place on a platter and use a fork to shred the meat.  Slice rolls in half and brown in oven. Remove rolls and butter then pile the meat on the roll.  Ladle the au jus into bowls for dunking.

I always serve these sandwiches with dill potato salad. 

Some Good Information from my Gardening Magazine!

A heart shaped tomato from my garden.  Yes, I still have more tomatoes on papers in our breakfast room.  The pictures from a month ago of tomatoes all over the floor were used up and I ended up canning some also.  Before the bad cold snap about two weeks ago, we had one last picking.  So I'm thinking I will have enough tomatoes to last through December.  I sure hate to start buying those at the store.

I found some interesting information in my gardening magazine about fresh farm eggs.  It answered a question for me.  I had noticed how farm eggs that have been hard boiled are hard to peel.  The eggs you buy at the store are easy.  The article said to put farm fresh eggs in a steamer for 30 minutes.  After steaming, chill the eggs in ice water for a few minutes before peeling.  The shells will fall right off.  This will take a little longer but I sure plan on trying it. 

Also, wood ash from the fire place makes a wonderful de-icer on brick and asphalt surfaces.  The crushed charcoal pieces can be used as biochar, which enhances the beneficial microbe community in your compost pile. 

Totally enjoying the atmosphere of a winter storm headed for our state.  The wood box is loaded, thanks to my husband and the fire is blazing.   Several good magazines and books to read and one of my husband's favorite meals, dip beef sandwiches with some potato salad. 

If you live in Oklahoma, have a cozy wintery evening!

Pickled Turnips (Part 2)

If you have already tried these, please accept my apology.  I was so busy last week when these were completed that I couldn't post on that day.  They look great and are great except for one thing, there is too much salt in this recipe.  This is the first time I tried this recipe and I assumed everything would be ok.  The recipe is great, I would just cut down on the salt. 

I'm getting ready to make another batch and I will experiment with the recipe a little.  I will let you know when I have figured out the right amount for the recipe.

The Gerson Therapy

We are bombarded on every side with things that are destroying our health.  Our food sources are really not good unless you buy organic, and even then you need to be careful because everything that says organic isn't.  Then there are all the chemicals that are literally in everything.  We have very strong bodies to withstand all that they are subjected too.

I recently watched a documentary on Dr. Max Gerson.  It was wonderful!  He was a man from Europe that escaped the Holocaust with his immediate family but lost his parents and all his siblings.  The documentary tells about how he came to develop his therapy and how it cures almost every kind of cancer.  His Institute was taking over by his daughter when he died and it's headquarters is in San Diego and there is a clinic in Mexico. 

I'm totally sold on alternative therapy because there are very few people who survive chemotherapy, it is basically poison and does great harm to your body.  His therapy is totally natural and his results are phenomenal. There are two books about this therapy that you can find on Amazon.  I know that not everyone is open to alternative therapy but I just think people should at least know that there is another way if you are interested.

Also, don't forget about Dr. Burzynski in Texas.  So far, he has been able to beat the U.S. court system and keep his clinic open. 

Sadly, I hear the news of friends or acquaintances getting cancer and no one ever wants to hear that news.  I hope you will take the time to watch the documentary or read his books.  All the information is more than encouraging.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

 

These are some wonderful times with our children when we were homeschooling.  We celebrated this particular year with another dear family that we meet years ago through homeschooling.  The kids reenacted the first Thanksgiving and then we all had a wonderful meal together.  Thankful for such wonderful memories of the past.  I am actually showing you this idea to pull out old pictures from past events or holidays and display them.  This is an old easel I picked up at a garage sale and I usually display books on it.  This year I was going through some pictures and found these and I knew I would enjoy seeing them out on display.  I think my kids enjoyed seeing them and remembering a fun time in their lives. 

 

Time as we know it is swiftly bringing this year to an end.  I'm thankful this year for the many wonderful memories I have in my life.  I do have some time in my life where there are some major  regrets but I purposed a long time ago to live the rest of my life with no regrets and I can thankfully say that I have.  My goal is to live every day to it's fullest.....to love, to learn, to be open and to explore!

 

Wishing you many wonderful memory making events ! 

 

Corn Bread Dressing

I am busy making cornbread to put in the freezer for dressing on Thanksgiving.
 
While I'm working this is my focus: Success is focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve.

Wilfred Peterson


This is a wonderful cornbread recipe and I have used it for years to make dressing.

11/2 cups yellow corn meal
1//2 teaspoon soda
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
11/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup shortening, melted

Mix all the ingredients together and bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.

My dressing is very simple.
I triple this recipe for dressing at my house.
1 loaf of cheap white bread, toasted
2 onions, diced
4 -5 stalks of celery, diced
5 eggs
4-5 tablespoons of ground sage or poultry seasoning ( I add this and taste but I use close to half a jar of this seasoning.)
salt and pepper to taste
9-10 cans of chicken broth

I run the cornbread and the white bread thru the food processor.  It will be coarser than bread crumbs but that's the look you are after.  Then add all of the ingredients, mix well and pour into a greased Dutch oven and cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  For a smaller batch just adjust time. 

When you have added your broth add enough so the cornbread is not dry, you don't want soupy but very wet.

Queen for the Day!

My birthday was yesterday and my daughters treated me like Queen for the day.  For me, this picture is worth a thousand words.  I can say no more.


P.S.  I do have two wonderful sons who love me very much but it was a mother and daughter day.

All Life Wants to Live

This is a picture that my husband took at the Norman County Fair this summer of the cutest little baby donkey. 


When our children were small, I became conscious of the fact that the meat we were buying from the grocery store had large amounts of antibiotics and hormones.  For years, I would buy a half of a cow from someone who was raising grass fed beef that was free of antibiotics and hormones.  Occasionally, I would find someone who raised free range chickens and would buy those.  Chickens were harder to find.  I never thought of being a vegetarian.  I just wanted to find meat that was good quality.  In fact,  I was married to a man who would never consider giving up meat.

I can remember meeting someone who was a vegetarian about 10 years ago and she was a vegetarian because of the rights of animals.  I thought at the time that was pretty silly.  I guess this has been a process of evolving for me.  I seem to change as information comes across my path.  It started like I said years ago with the antibiotics and hormones and now I have come to the place where, number one the quality of meat that is offered to human beings is ridiculous and then after I read and saw the treatment of the animals that are being inhumanely raised and then slaughtered, well it's hard to eat the meat now.

  I first became aware of the inhuman treatment of chickens when I was doing some research for my son. I could hardly believe what I was reading.  Then my meat eating husband attended a seminar with our two sons and they all came back with a different attitude toward meat. Meat consumption at our house went way down.  If you have never seen Earthlings I would strongly encourage you to watch this.  What little bit I have watched has changed me forever.  I think you can find Earthlings on you tube.

In our society, I don't think much thought is given about the soul of an animal, how it's treated, does it really have feelings? I'm not saying they are human but I do think more consideration should be given to their well being.  This story crossed my path at a very appropriate time.  It is the story of a man who loved hunting and was an avid hunter.  One day he was in his hut and when the geese flew over he shot his gun and injured one.  It came falling to the pond and another goose saw what happened and left the flock to go to the injured goose.  When he got to the injured goose the other goose that left the flock was covering the injured goose with it's wing and the protecting goose started squawking at him when he appeared.  It so moved him to see this that he never hunted again.

I would just encourage you to do some research on the meat industry.  Watch Earthlings. Also, do some research on how meat effects your body and then let your conscience by your guide.

Pickled Turnips

About a month ago I blogged on how much I loved falafel's.  The first time I ate a falafel I ordered some hummus with it and they served pickled turnips as dippers for the hummus.  I loved the pickled turnips, first time I had ever eaten them.  I get so hungry for them now.  I love garlicky hummus and these pickled turnips are so wonderful with the hummus.  Most people turn up their noses with the mention of turnips but even if you don't like turnips I would like to encourage you to try these.

These are very easy and inexpensive to make.  This is the recipe:

3 cup water
1/3 cup salt, white coarse salt, kosher or sea salt
1 bay leaf
1 cup white vinegar, distilled
2 pounds turnips, peeled and sliced (in the recipe they cut theirs like French fries)
1 small beet, peel
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced ( I used 4 cloves but I like garlic)

Peel and slice turnips and also peel beat and cut in half.  I placed the beet in the bottom of the jar and add the sliced turnips on top. 

Heat 1/3 of the water with the salt and bay leaf under a low temperature until the salt dissolves, stirring occasionally.  When the salt is dissolved remove from heat and let water come to room temperature and add vinegar, remaining water and garlic. Stir well and pour mixture over turnips.  Leave the bay leaf in the jar and I added a red pepper from my garden for a little zip.

Set sealed jar in relatively cool place for one week.  Once done the pickles can be put in the refrigerator and kept until ready to serve.  The pickles will keep up to 2 weeks in the frig.  They will be rather strong at first but will mellow after a few days.  They should be kept no longer than 6 weeks after being made.  If you like to tinker with recipes, you can add a few sprigs of dill or a dill flower which will take the taste in a different direction.

I read an interesting article about pickled turnips.  These pickled turnips contain a friendly bacteria called Lactobacillus brevis KB290.  It is a beneficial probiotic that enhances digestion and immune function.  There were several reports that said it would help fight off the flu.  These experiments were done in Japan and the article said there was not enough evidence to suggest fighting off the flu.  Personally, I think eastern medicine is far more advanced from traditional medicine in the U.S.  I'm not saying it does fight off the flu but you never know.  It sure can't hurt to eat a bunch of them and that is exactly what I plan on doing.

A little side note: My mother cooked turnips and I always loved them and so did everyone who ever ate her turnips.  She peeled and sliced them and put them in water with about a tablespoon of bacon grease and 1/3 cup of sugar maybe 1/2 cup, somewhere in between there and let them boil until they were tender.  Really good!  Our New Years Day dinner for as long as I can remember was always a pork roast, baked sweet potatoes, these turnips, slaw, blackeye peas and cornbread.

Sour Cream

Just a little tid bit of information.  I always forget to add this when I am blogging.  I wanted to tell you about a sour cream that I found that has a wonderful flavor.  It's called Organic Valley Sour Cream and it is wonderful.  It's worth the price and it is the best I have ever tasted. It really will make a difference in the taste of your dish.   I have bought Daisy Sour Cream for years because it is real sour cream but the flavor of Organic Valley is far superior to it. 

Strawberry Banana Ice Cream

My husband loves ice cream and he has done so well in giving it up. He used to eat at least one bowl every night before bed and so that is why I'm trying to experiment and come up with a healthy alternative.

First, let me say that Cuisinart, according to America's Test Kitchen, is the best brand to buy unless you want to spend several hundred dollars.  Cuisinart has two types of ice cream makers.  One has a plastic tub and the other has a metal tub.  The metal tub is the best and it's a little more expensive but the metal is really cold and I think does a better job.  You keep this metal tub in the freezer and when you are ready to make ice cream bring it out and stick in the machine and pour in your ice cream, gelato or sorbet.  It takes about 25 minutes and it does great.  Put the ice cream into containers and put in the freezer.

 If you own a juicer, try running frozen bananas through the juicer it creates a wonderful banana pudding or ice cream.   My family has always loved this.  We like to top the frozen delight with fresh or frozen fruit and my son and husband would put chocolate syrup on theirs.

Let me tell you what didn't work when I tried making this ice cream.  I put the banana through the juicer and put frozen strawberries in the blender to puree them.  I then added the banana mixture to the strawberries with some coconut milk and a few dates.  It tasted good but was too icy.  It wasn't creamy.  My husband still liked it but I will add some yogurt next time.  When I have perfected this, I will let you know.

 Be sure and ask for an ice cream maker for Christmas you will love it.  Even making the ice cream that has real cream and sugar is still better than what you buy at the store. 

Spinach Casserole

This is a new recipe I tried and I really liked it.  Some of my clients like spinach souffle and of course there is no way to make that without being at their home to serve immediately so I found this which is close. This can be served hot or at room temperature.  I almost like it best at room temperature.  A slice would be great with a salad or a bowl of soup or as a vegetable dish for dinner.

1 cup flour
2 large eggs, whisked
3 cups of shredded cheese (Monterrey Jack, Sharp Cheddar, or any good melting variety)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup butter
2 boxes of 10 ounce frozen spinach, thawed and all the water squeezed out
salt and pepper to taste
dash of nutmeg

Grease a medium size casserole dish.  Gently combine ingredients in a bowl and turn evenly into a baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.  It should be solid and bubbly around the edges.  Cool 10 minutes before slicing.

These are the changes I made to the recipe.  You can see which one you like. I made the recipe above with these additions.  1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese and 1/4 half n half.

Wildest Rice Soup

This is a wonderfully delicious soup.  Half of my bowl was gone when I remembered to take a picture for my blog.  I sent some to my son and I got a text, that soup it was excellent!  So please try this, I don't think you will be disappointed.

1-6.2 ounce package long-grain and wild rice mix
1 pound bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1 large onion, diced
2-10 3/4 ounce cans cream of potato soup, undiluted
1-8 ounce prepared cheese product, cubed (Velveeta)
3 3/4 cup half and half
2 1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

Cook wild rice according to package instructions, omitting seasoning packet.  Set aside.  In a Dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp, remove and drain on paper towel.  Reserve 2 tablespoons dripping in the Dutch oven.  Saute mushrooms and onion in drippings until tender; stir in rice, bacon and half and half and remaining ingredients.  Cook over medium heat, stirring  constantly until soup is thoroughly heated and cheese melts.
Makes 10 cups.

Gardening Information

This is something I learned over the weekend and it was very timely for me.  I have been cleaning up my garden area and I planned on going to my neighbors next week and loading up on his dried cow manure for our vegetable garden. 

What I learned is if there has been an  herbicide applied to the hay field to keep out weeds and a cow eats that hay, of course it's in his poop and will affect the vegetables you plant.  So I've got to check that out before I put in my neighbors cow manure.  He rotates his cattle so I don't know what they eat.  I know he doesn't put anything on the pasture by our house. 

I know there are lost of people who buy manure for flower and vegetable gardens so just passing along the information. 

Cream of Asparagus Soup

A client called me last night and ordered several different soups, a pot roast, and several pies.  I think she heard the weather report that it's going to get cold.  :)  So, you can guess what I'm doing today...... Cooking.  I just crank up my favorite CD's and off I go.  I got pretty enthused from the music and started washing our mattress pad and put the down mattress topper on the line to air.  I also take a spray bottle with a little lavender oil and thieves oil and a little water and spray all of this.  Hopefully, this will get rid of the dust mites and all the dead skin. 

Back to the asparagus soup.  The other two soups I'm making I have posted before but I haven't posted the asparagus soup.  It is really good and I actually forget about having this recipe.  It is easy to make and if you like asparagus you'll love this.

1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup thinly sliced celery
3 cloves minced garlic
3 tablespoons butter
2 (14.5 ounce) cans cut asparagus, undrained
1-16 ounce can sliced potatoes, drained (you can use 2 medium potatoes that you have peeled and cooked until tender and drain the water)
1-14 ounce can chicken broth
1 teaspoon white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 teaspoon basil
1 cup milk, ( I use 1/2 cup half and half and 1/2 cup milk) makes it richer
1/2 cup sour cream

Cook first 3 ingredients in butter in a soup pot over medium heat stirring often until tender.  Stir in asparagus and all the ingredients except milk and sour cream.  Bring to a boil stirring often.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Cool slightly.  Pour half of the mixture into a blender and process until smooth.  Do the same to the remaining ingredients in pot then return all of the smoothed mixture to the soup pot.  Stir in the milk and cook until heated through.  Garnish with a dollop of sour cream.

You can freeze this up to 6 months omit milk until you unthaw. 
Makes 2 quarts.

Autumn Hydrangea

If you like hydrangeas you would love an Autumn Hydrangea.  They get huge, about 6 to 7 feet tall and 5-6 feet wide and they are beautiful in spring and fall.  This autumn has been the best for this plant.  It has the most beautiful red leaves this year.  The leaves will stay on for a good part of the winter before they fall off.  Then in the spring the huge cascade of each hydrangea blossom is amazing. It's not round like most hydrangeas it is a huge cone shape.   It starts out white and then goes into a beautiful pink.  The beautiful thing about hydrangeas is they make beautiful dried flowers. 

My grandmother had a huge blue hydrangea on the north side of her home.  Mine is on the north side of my home also.  I tried planting some on the south side of my house and they didn't make it.  Remember, I live in the country and the south side of my house gets blasted by the wind.  I'm not sure what happened to them but I've never had a problem with this one. 

If you have a space in your flower garden, do try one of these they are beautiful.  I have a great view of this one from my bedroom window. 

Pumpkin Bread

Most everyone has a pumpkin bread recipe, but just in case you don't or you don't like your recipe that well this is a great recipe.  This is my sister's recipe that our family has made for years. It's moist and has a wonderful pumpkin spice flavor.

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup oil
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon mace
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons soda
2/3 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cups prepared pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix everything together and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Makes 3 loaves

Being in Nature

A Busy Friday!

This weather is just perfect for working outside, no humidity, cool, a little breeze I couldn't ask for anything better.  I'm going to begin with the bottom picture first this time.  I finally got a fig tree and I'm really excited about it.  I've been collecting some fig recipes that I will be anxious to try when the tree starts to produce.  I love the shape of the leaves and the fruit will look reddish-brown with pink flesh.  Fig trees just  have a unique look to them and I like the way the look as well as the way they taste.  I bought a Brown Turkey Fig tree and it is supposed to do very well in this zone. It can grown to 15 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide.  It needs direct sunlight and blooms in spring to early summer (that's good, the blooms probably won't freeze if it blooms in early summer) and ripens in summer. Brown Turkey has the longest ripening season of recommended varieties. 

I got started digging the cooled frame.  My daughter came down on Wednesday and she helped me get started.  We got a lot done.  It is hard work digging and then wheelbarrowing the dirt to another location.  Needless to say, I was beat that night.  The pictures of the screen doors are what we are going to use for lids.  We are cutting out the screen and we are going to use heavy plastic and staple it onto the wood.  Plexiglas was to expensive.  Two hundred dollars for a 4x8 sheet. :(

It's just been a week since I brought in the tomatoes and I wanted you to see how fast they are ripening.  I wanted to make some chow-chow but I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it before they all get ripe. 

Have a super weekend!

Autumn Wish

The woods are full of fairies,
The sea is full of fish,
The trees are full of golden leaves
Let's make an Autumn wish.
                                                 Anon


Have a beautiful Autumn day!

Heartland Table

Every time I blog I have wanted to mention this new cooking show on the Food Network.  It is Heartland Table and it is on every Saturday morning at 10:00 or 10:30.  Check your listings to make sure.  This lady is going to be put in my favorites along with the  Barefoot Contessa and Giada.  I love her style of cooking.  The last show I watched she made cheese fondue on her very unique charcoal grill.  All the dippers were put on skewers and placed on the charcoal grill just long enough to give them that great charcoal taste .  The dippers were cherry tomatoes, chunks of crusty bread, purple onions and slab bacon cut into chunks.  Doesn't that sound wonderful.  These were her appetizers for dinner that night.  Her cheese was Gruyere and Cheddar.

This is the time of the year to eat out side and I thought this was a wonderful idea.  You could just have appetizers outside then come inside if it's too cool for the main course.

I hope you will check her out........I think you will like her.

Happy Cooking!

Quiche Lorraine

I catered a baby shower brunch on Saturday and one of the breakfast items they served was quiche.  Back in the day, quiche didn't push my hot button.  I thought it was really bland, that is, until I tried this recipe and I love this quiche.  It's rich and delicious, has a wonderful flavor.  This recipe comes from a lady who is a wonderful cook. 

The recipe doesn't call for this but at times I have sautéed fresh baby spinach and whisked it with the eggs for a little different taste.  When I do this, sometimes I leave the bacon out but I have put in the spinach and left the bacon in also.  You could use frozen chopped spinach, just make sure you squeeze all of the water out of it.

1 pound lean bacon
1 white onion, sliced
2 cups heavy cream
4 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 pound Swiss cheese, grated
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 1 inch squares
white pepper, I have used black when I didn't have white
Parmesan cheese
1- 9inch unbaked pie shell

Fry bacon and crumble.  With the same skillet that you fried the bacon in, remove the bacon grease and sauté onion in butter until transparent.  Layer unbaked pie shell with bacon, then onions, cubed cheese and grated Swiss cheese.  Then on top of Swiss sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.  Add pepper to taste.  Beat eggs into warm cream and pour into pie shell. 

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes or until top is golden.  This is important be sure and let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes before you cut into it.

The pies in my picture haven't been cooked yet. 

Falafel

This is my new favorite thing.  It can sure take the place of a hamburger at least for a while. :)  My
daughter loves these also and she is the one who turned me on to them.  The ones we eat are at the Mediterranean Deli on North May in Oklahoma City.  Their hummus is wonderful also.  They serve the hummus with fresh cucumbers, pickled turnips (yes, pickled turnips and I loved these) and pita bread.  That is the first time I have ever eaten pickled turnips and they are wonderful with the hummus.  The purple that you see in the falafel is a pickled turnip.  I want to learn how to make these. The brown balls that you see in this is the falafel and it is made from chickpeas.  I'm not sure what ingredients are in these but they have somewhat of a bite to them.  The pita is stuffed with dill pickles, lettuce, tomatoes and there are two types of sauces on them.  I just love them and when I get to the city my car just automatically heads in that direction.  :)

Be sure and try one and get the hummus to go with it!

Pressing Leaves and Flowers

In the Halloween party blog, I mentioned taking your children out to the woods and letting them pick beautiful leaves and pressing them.  I'm a kid at heart, I guess, because I love pressing odd shaped leaves and flowers.  In my workshop, I have quite a few leaves that I have pressed and they adorn my bulletin board.  I picked up several books at garage sales that are probably 5 inches thick for the purpose of pressing flowers and leaves.  You can buy a plant press, I just never have. 

Once you have found leaves that have fallen and still have sap in them (they haven't dried out) you want to bring them home and immediately press them.  If you wait several days, they dry out and will crumble.  I'm not sure how long it takes to dry them out.  I put mine in the pages of my books and leave them for several months.   I'm usually not in a hurray to use them for anything. I have also pressed pansies and they do very well. Flowers that have lots of petals do not press that well.  I just want to mention that the original color will fade somewhat.

I posted a picture of the silica gel crystals that I use to dry flowers.  This works great and I get it at Hobby Lobby.  I usually get about three of these containers because you want a good depth so it covers the flowers.  I put the gel in a long dish (like a casserole dish) and have the gel about 4 inches deep because you want the flower totally covered.  It takes about 3 weeks to a month to preserve the flowers but they look great.  I have done a lot of sunflowers and daisies and they turn out great and they last about 3 years after you preserve them.  I use mine a lot to decorate with, I'm handling them a lot.  If you didn't handle them much they would probably last longer than that.

I put a frame around one of the leaves to give you an idea of what this looks like.  I love this look.  I have always wanted to make a grouping of four different types of leaves and put them in our home but I haven't got that accomplished yet. 

This is such a great activity for children.  They end up with such an attractive art piece.  They will really be proud of themselves.  This would be a great gift for grandparents or aunts and uncles for b-days or Christmas or anytime.  Let children start by going to garage sales.  Everyone always has tons of picture frames at garage sales (not a lot of money involved in the frame).  They can paint it or leave it natural. Then to the woods, with the frame in mind, look for leaves you would like to frame.  It can be a grouping or just one leaf.  Press the leaf.  The child will need to decide on a background. Which can be plain or have a pattern to it. I like this project because children can learn that they can make some beautiful by being resourceful and creative.  They have a unique gift made by them that didn't involve a lot of money.  It's starts them to thinking how they can become producers and not consumers.

The last idea I want to share using dried leaves or small flowers is to put them into cards that you are sending to beloved family or friends. 

Have fun with this idea.  I know you'll come up with more ways to use nature and preserve her!