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.