Cute!

LIFE IS TOO SHORT............SMILE WHILE YOU HAVE YOUR TEETH!      :)

Mississippi Roast vs. Dutch's Dip Beef

A couple of weeks ago I was watching The Kitchen on the Food Network Channel.  They were talking about a roast recipe that had gone viral on the internet.  They had the women who came up with the original recipe on their show that day.  It was originally a family recipe and it was too spicy for her family so she changed it up a bit.  It is a very simple recipe and we ate it one night with a baked potato and salad and the next day I warmed up the meat in the juices and made a sandwich on ciabatta bread and put a little grated gruyere cheese on top.  I liked the sandwich the best. The pepperoncini peppers give it a unique flavor.  The recipe on the Kitchen that day was one stick of butter, 1/4 cup water, one package of Hidden Valley Ranch Mix (dry), one package of AuJus Gravy Mix by McCormick, Pepperoncini peppers and the jar with the juice and a 3-4 pound roast. She said to use the roast of your choice.  I had a rump roast that I used and I would definitely say to use a chuck roast.  You put all the ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.  As I looked on line, there were many variations to the recipe.  The author of the recipe never mentioned salt and pepper which it needed. 

I don't normally toot my own horn but this time I have to say something.  If bloggers and Sam Sifton of the New York times thinks that is an exceptional recipe then they must try my recipe for dip beef.  It's called Dutch's Dip Beef after my dad, he loved it! This is a family favorite and we never get tired of this.  It is wonderful with your favorite potato salad.   This recipe is 35-40 years old and I too, have made changes from the original.  The original used dried onion flakes and all the spices were dried and I use fresh rosemary, fresh onions and beef flavoring. This sandwich will melt in your mouth and the flavor is phenomenal.  The smell, when this roast is cooking is out of this world.  I promise you it will be a favorite with your family.

When I make this for our family I buy two chuck roasts about 4 pounds each.  I used to buy those hard French crusty rolls (about 7-8 inches long) by Pepperidge Farms but I can't find those any more.  I love ciabatta rolls, so I have started using those.  I toast the bread and then butter it and pile lots of roast on the sandwich.  The au jus is so flavorful it's almost like French onion soup.

I wash off the roast and pat them dry and then season liberally with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  I put them in a Dutch oven and cover them with 2 large diced white onions.  One half tablespoon of oregano, 4 bay leaves, and 5 to 6 sprigs of fresh rosemary laid on top of the roast. You can either use about 4 beef bouillon cubes or I use beef flavoring that doesn't have MSG in it.  I use 3 to 4 tablespoons and I add it to about 6 cups of water.  You want to add water that comes to the top edge of the roast but not covering the roast. That is around 6 cups. I cover the Dutch oven with foil and cook at 275 degrees for about 5 hours.  Check for tenderness and cook longer if needed.  When ready to serve remove roast from Dutch oven and use two forks to pull meat apart.  It should almost fall apart and then pile roast on your toasted roll and have a small bowl of au jus for each sandwich.

Well, it's a winner.  I hope the New York Times gets wind of it!  LOL

Old Fashion Applesauce Cake with Caramel Icing

This is a great dessert for Sunday dinner in the fall.  My thoughts after making the cake, which I put in a 9x13 baking dish, was this would be very pretty in one of those beautiful cake molds with the icing drizzled over it. It would make a great presentation on a pedestal cake stand.  Apples plus caramel always equals WONDERFUL!

I was looking through an old cook book for an applesauce cake recipe.  My husband is not a fan of a lot of icing and I was going to put the applesauce cake in loaf pans.  But I found this caramel icing recipe in another section and thought, "oh my goodness this would be great on an applesauce cake."  The icing makes quite a bit.  I knew it would be pretty thick on the cake so I just drizzled it over the cake while it was warm.  I'm saving the rest of the icing for this weekend.  I'm going to make apple dumplings and this icing will be wonderful warmed and drizzled over the dumplings.  Oh my gosh, I can't wait!

Applesauce Sauce Cake

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup raisins, cooked and drained
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons soda

Cream butter and sugar.  Add applesauce and dates.  Mix nuts with 1 cup flour and add to the creamed mixture.  Mix other ingredients to the remaining flour and sift.  Stir into the mixture and bake at 300 degrees until done.  It took my cake about 40 minutes.  Test the cake with a toothpick to make sure it is done.  I put the raisins in one cup of water and let them come to a boil for just a couple of minutes.  Then drain.

Caramel Icing

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup white Karo syrup
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 large can of Milnot
2 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix sugar, flour, syrup and milk.  Bring to a boil and cook about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Add butter and vanilla.  Let cool.  Beat until creamy and thick enough to spread.

A Nifty Idea for Pictures

Four children later, our pictures didn't all make it into nice folders.  I have the bottom half of a big cabinet that is full of nothing but picture albums and now there are several covered boxes of pictures that need to be in albums.  Several months ago, I was looking for several pictures and I opened this cabinet.  I ended up pulling a stool up and sitting for several hours organizing and getting some structure to this madness. I'm usually never up till 11:00 but that night I started texting the cutest pictures of our kids to them.  Pictures, they had forgot about.  We were all laughing and they couldn't believe I was up so late.  I couldn't either. :)

I was reading an article about a famous designer and she said, "she likes to leave pictures out in nice bowls throughout her home for company to look through who are visiting."  I loved the idea! I've always said, get those things out of your attic and closet and use them, well, this is another thing that needs to be out and I have already found that your visitors will really enjoy looking through your photos. 

This winter, one of my projects is to get the majority of the pictures into albums but I think I'm going to leave some out in bowls.  I have Thanksgiving pictures along with other pictures in my bowl now but there should be plenty of pictures of winter days and holidays for the end of the year.

Watch out, because when you start looking through those pictures the hours will pass by.  I enjoyed it so much!

Happy Fall Sunday    xo

Fall Has Arrived at Our Home

Beautiful Morning!

This was a beautiful morning several weeks ago.  I was up before the sun and went outside behind the barn to watch the sunrise.  After the sun was up, I walked around in bare feet, the grass was wet and it reminded me of being a kid and going barefoot in the summer.  I picked these flowers.  They are growing wild around the edge of the pasture.  I really enjoyed the morning and enjoyed these flowers a couple of days before they wilted. 

A Little Straggler

I thought all the hummingbirds were gone.  This morning a little straggler showed up.  He looked pretty wind blown and cold.  He has been hitting all my morning glories, cypress vine and the hummingbird feeder.  He is so cute, I wish I could keep him all winter in the house. :)

I'm wishing him safe travels to his next home!