A Tale of a Rotisserie Chicken. . . and Stew

I mentioned that we went to Costco a week or so ago. One of the things we purchased was a rotisserie chicken for the amazing price of $4.99.  I meant to have it for dinner that night when we got home, but we were later getting to Costco than I had anticipated, which meant we were later leaving, so we popped into Taco Time and got a bite.  Which was interesting because they served it to us in a bag, which we carried to an available table and unpacked.  Such strange times. . .

Anyway, the chicken became our Saturday night dinner, and then again on Sunday.  And there was so much left!! A day or so later, I decided to chop some up and make chicken and black bean enchiladas.  The recipe said it made four or five, but I ended up with a dozen!  I froze six and we ate the other six that night and the next. And still there was chicken left, so I chopped it up and froze it.  Saturday night I decided to make pizza and opted for white sauce and the frozen chicken, along with a little Canadian bacon, red peppers and olives.  We ate the pizza for two nights and I ate the rest for lunch today. (Dan was so kind to let me have it!) And we still have those six enchiladas in the freezer.  That $4.99 chicken has already fed us numerous meals with two still to go. I feel kind of like it was the loaves and fishes!  I think I'll be buying another soon.  

And stew?  We have had a very cold November.  We have snow again, with more forecast for tonight and tomorrow night.  I love cold weather cooking--soups, stews, breads, muffins.  Right after breakfast this morning I pondered supper.  I knew I had some potatoes and celery in need of using up, so I thought of stew.  I have a recipe I clipped from the paper years ago called Five Hour Midnight Stew.  It's fairly simple, but you have to remember to get started early as it bakes in the oven for five hours as the title states.  

It tasted so good!  I had some leftover muffins from a couple of weeks ago in the freezer so I zapped them to complete our dinner.  There's lots of stew left, so I'm good to go for a few nights.  ♥

Snoctober!

Well.

I took some photos of our beautiful leaves last Thursday night.  The yard and the trees were so beautiful!

And then Friday came.  And so did the snow.  

This was just the beginning.  We ended up with about four inches.  And it's still here!!  I feel like it must be December.  (I have refrained from playing Christmas music, however!) Five days of snow and cold in October.  Tomorrow is supposed to finally be above freezing and then maybe the snow will melt.  

We stayed in and cozied up to the fireplace and I've been knitting away on those brown socks.  Good news!  I should be done tomorrow.  I was able to get away with undoing just the toe of the too-short-sock and I'll be the first to say how amazed I am. I'm just glad it worked!  Time for a new color of yarn!

I'm also getting the Christmas wall hanging quilted, a little at a time.  I finally decided to just stitch in the ditch using my Bernina 830 and a walking foot.  I'm so thankful for a machine with a large throat space and my nice sewing cabinet so that everything is level with room to spread out.  Spoiled, that's what I am.  

Well, that's the latest here at the Resort.  Just trying to stay warm and get a few projects done. I made a yummy ham and pea soup in the Instant Pot this week and that's kept our tummies warm, along with muffins.  I do love winter cooking!  ♥

My Kitchen and Me

If you've read my blog for very long, you know I'm a kitchen person.  Notice that I did not say that I'm a wannabe chef, or even a cook.  I do cook, and I do bake, but I claim no expertise in either area.  But I do love my kitchen and all the things a kitchen holds--tools for the job so to speak.  

When we bought this house almost twenty years ago, I was thrilled that it had a pantry.  I'm not certain that it was originally meant to be a pantry, in fact, I think it was meant to be a utility closet for brooms, vacuum, etc.  There's even a light in the ceiling, or at least there was until we took the bulb out and taped cardboard over the hole.  Some other owner installed shelves and of course, that made the light useless as the only part it illuminated was the top shelf.  

Collector of kitchen tools that I am, a good portion of the pantry is dedicated to hold them.  Waffle iron, Instant Pot, toaster (not enough room on my counters to leave it out), snackster sandwich maker, and so on.  Then of course there's the actual food storage including containers of different kinds of beans and pastas. (Have I ever mentioned that I'm a total lover of different shapes of pasta??  Hopeless addiction.)  

Several weeks ago I decided it was time to clean out the pantry and once again find out just what lurked behind those closed doors.  Here I begin to take things out. 

And I began to fill up a counter with the goods.

Maybe more than one counter.  And the floor...

And here we are after careful sorting, consolidation, and judicious replacement.

I don't think I threw away anything but some empty containers after consolidation, but that just shows that I do use what I have.  Which was a relief.   

In the Kitchen

For various reasons, I've been on a kitchen kick lately. I'm taking cookbooks to bed to read before lights out, I'm perusing lots of food blogs, and I'm actually spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen trying new things.  

Last night I tried a new recipe using broccoli and we found it quite tasty--and different.  I had the last of some fresh broccoli in the fridge that needed to be used, and a rundown of the recipe told me I had all the other ingredients.  We were having tacos for supper, so for a brief moment I pondered the addition of something so not Mexican (can tacos really be called Mexican?), but then I threw caution to the wind and went with it.  It was delicious and we ate every last morsel.  So what was it? Roasted Marinated Broccoli and you can find the recipe by clicking here.  

A few weeks ago I made chicken fajitas for supper and decided to make my own refried beans.  I checked my Pressure Perfect cookbook by Lorna Sass and found a recipe for Sub-limey Refried Beans and once again, I actually had all the ingredients.  (I've been more adventuresome at the store, too, and actually had limes in my fruit basket.)  I pressure cooked a pound of pinto beans and followed the recipe.  They were excellent in the fajitas, but then we love lime on them--it makes the flavors sing.  :-)  I froze the leftovers and used them in the tacos last night.  They froze well and the lime flavor was still evident.

Another recipe which met with great approval recently was for Cranberry Pork Loin.  The recipe comes from Judy over at Patchwork Times and is also a pressure cooker recipe.  I served it with a big bowl of homemade mashed potatoes and it was delicious!!  You can find that recipe here.  Judy has lots of good recipes so you might want to click on her Recipe link in the blog header and check out others.  

Right now I have a loaf of San Diego Sunshine Bread working in my bread machine.  It makes the most fabulous French toast, so that's what we'll be having for breakfast in the morning.  Yum!!  I'll use Eggbeaters and almond milk for the dipping mixture, so it'll be a healthy breakfast in spite of the syrup we'll use.  The recipe comes from the original Bread Machine Magic published in 1992 by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway. It is my go-to bread machine cookbook and I've never been disappointed.  

And last, in kitchen news, a new food processor has come to live with us.  Back about 1980, Dan bought me an inexpensive GE food processor and in spite of it's low pedigree, it's been a trooper.  However, the last few times I used it, I noticed it didn't seal well anymore.  After almost thirty-three years, it was time to replace it.  I did some checking online and I had one picked out, on sale even.  Then yesterday we drove to Costco and lo and behold, there was one on the shelf.  With Dan's encouragement, into the cart it went.  I had fun setting it up and watching the accompanying video when we got home.  It's an 11-cup Cuisinart, not the biggest, but perfect for us.  

The old one had already been tossed in the garbage can, but I just dug it out for a commemorative photo with its replacment.  Quite the size difference!

I haven't used it the new one yet, but perhaps tomorrow I'll whip up some pizza dough and see how it does; it even has a special dough button.  Last year's garden was a bust, but I'm hoping I'll be running many zuchinni through this summer to replenish our relish supply.  And maybe make a few loaves of zuchinni bread.

Meanwhile, what's up in the kitchen tonight?  Roasted Brussel sprouts!  They're in the oven now, and here's where I got the recipe.  

Aebelskivers

Or ebelskivers.  They're spelled both ways.  

I mentioned in my Christmas post that I received an aebelskiver pan and recipe book from Ann and Eric for Christmas.  I first ate aebelskivers during a trip to visit our son and family years ago.  Amy made some for us one morning for breakfast and I was fascinated by them. Little round balls, kind of a cross between muffins and pancakes, they were eaten with jam and a dusting of powdered sugar, and they were quite tasty.  

I've seen the pans in several kitchen catalogs and toyed with getting one, but didn't.  Then this Christmas came and a list was requested.  Ponder, ponder.  I must confess that at this stage of our lives, there's not much we don't have, so I pondered some more.  Several things came to mind, and then the aebelskiver pan popped in, so I added it.  And then forgot I did, so when I opened the package with the pan, I was completely surprised! And then I opened the recipe book--recipe after recipe. Too fun!

Several days after Christmas, I decided I needed to jump right into this new method of cooking before it became a "buffalo", and totally forgot to take pictures.  I assure you, however, they were delicious.

This morning, I decided to make them again, try filling some, and take pictures.  For those unfamiliar with an aebelskiver pan, here's a shot, along with the cookbook I received:

Here's the first batch:

And flipped over:

And ready to serve:

I filled the first ones with grape jelly and learned that wasn't such a good idea--the jelly turned too liquid and ran out when I took them out of the pan.  I used strawberry jam in the next batch and that worked well.  I also did some plain ones.  I liked the ones with the strawberry jam best; they had just enough filling for me. Dan likes them plain so he can add as much jam as he likes, and he likes more than I do.  

Aebelskivers are a Danish creation and quite famous there.  I can claim no Danish blood, but I am a quarter Norwegian, so that's close enough. While these are definitely not an every day breakfast item, for a leisurely morning treat, they are wonderful.  Thanks, Ann, Eric and boys!  

Could It Be Spring?!?

Today an amazing thing happened:  it was sunny and it was warm.  We finally had a spring-like day and it was truly wonderful!  We've had no snow for over a week, I had some windows open a few inches, and I barbecued!!

The chicken tasted so good, and I made a pasta salad with a vinaigrette dressing and a tossed green salad. I love barbecue season. When you clear the table, that's all there is--the stove is clean and so are the counters if you made the salads earlier.

On the sewing front, all I've done recently is to quilt a top a local group of kindergartners made. A friend of mine goes into the classroom and helps the little ones make their blocks, then she joins them into a top. I quilted one for them last year and was happy to do it again this year. The class will now decide upon a worthy recipient and give it away.

It's an alphabet quilt--pretty cute, huh?

I've been working quite a bit at the quilt shop due to one regular's broken leg and the knee replacement surgery of another's husband. I've enjoyed it, but I think my run is over for now and I'm looking forward to getting back into my sewing room.

UPDATE:  After I wrote the above, I was enjoying hearing the sounds of the neighbor's lawnmower and thinking of balmy summer evenings with the smell of new mown grass in the cooling air.  Ahhh, spring and summer.  Now (10:45) it's blowing and beginning to rain, and according to Weather.com, it will remain like this for awhile.    Goodbye spring--you were certainly short!

A New Toy

Yes, I'm still alive.  :-)  Last Saturday we decided get out of town and go to Costco.  There's no place like Costco!  As we wandered the store, I headed, as usual, to check out the kitchen section.  There, part way down the aisle, I spotted a crock pot and zoomed in for a closer look.  I have a 6-quart one I dearly love, but for many things, it's too large.  This one was a 4.5-quart model and it had the very reasonable price of $18.86!  I looked again, but it really was that, um, cheap.  Sold!  I put one in the cart.

As I was thinking of what to have for dinner tonight, I thought of doing a pork loin and realized I could try out my new toy.  It worked well.  My "recipe" is simple:  put one frozen loin roast (1 1/2 lb)  in the crock pot, add peeled and cut up carrots and potatoes, sprinkle the whole shebang with some McCormick's Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning, add about 1/2 cup of water, put on the lid, and cook on high for four hours or so.  Simple, and delicious.  I put it all on a platter, pour the "pot liquor" (as Mom used to call it) in a pitcher, and serve. 

Here's a picture of tonight's dinner:

And here's a picture of my new toy:



And what, you ask have I been doing in my sewing room? Bibs. Many bibs. I'm closing in on twenty. I made a huge batch last spring, and they're all gone. We've been having a new crop of little ones at church, and I decided to bite the bullet (better than a pacifier, right?) and just replenish my stash. There was a shower last night, one next week on Saturday, and two more coming right up. We seem to be growing our church from the bottom up. :-)

In closing, if you need a new crock pot or simply want to stash a nice wedding gift in the closet for future use, head to your nearest Costco and snap up this bargain.  It's a cutie. 

Friday, Baking Day

Dan was helping Eric on their remodeling work today and I had every intention of sewing. But then I remembered that I would need to have a meal ready for Sunday for a couple at church who just had a new baby. They live about thirty miles away, so the plan is for several of us to have meals ready for them in the church freezer so they can just take them home and eat them as needed.

I decided I'd get some cookies made today and then make up a casserole tomorrow. So to the kitchen I went and began a batch of chocolate chippers. As I was baking them, I thought about how good the rolls I'd made for Thanksgiving had tasted, and how some more would be tasty with the split pea soup I had in the frig from several nights ago. Hmmm...

I washed up the mixer bowl and beater, ran the dishwasher, and decided that yes indeed, I would make up another batch of rolls. Back to the mixer, out with flour, yeast, eggs, and oil. Oh how I love my KitchenAid mixer! I dumped the dough out on the counter and gave it a few kneads for good measure and set it to rise.

I finished up some wash, put on my boots and coat, got the mail and retrieved the garbage can (garbage day), made some tea and sat down with the mail and a book. I woke myself up a little while later (smile) and punched down the dough, formed the rolls, let them rise again, and finally popped them in the oven. Dan got home just as I was taking them out. Is there a better smell than freshly baked bread?

So now it's evening. I didn't get near my sewing room, but I have a pile of rolls on the counter and we'll enjoy them tomorrow.


And now the big question: Will I make it to my sewing room tomorrow?? Stay tuned!

Soup, Soup, Soup

When the weather turns to fall, I'm always drawn to my kitchen. I'm not much of a summer cook, but cooler weather brings out all my cooking instincts. Meatloaf and baked potatoes, soups and bread, crock pot meals, I'm even thinking about food before lunch! As in planning ahead! Trust me on this, I don't plan ahead in the summer--all of a sudden it'll be four o'clock and I'm forced to think, "What's for dinner?!?" Barbecues are us.

I found a recipe a week or so ago for a crock pot minestrone and decided to give it a try. It made a huge pot and we really liked it. I used Elk stew meat and it was nice and tender, easily cut with a spoon.


It's not a pretty soup, but it was quite tasty, especially sprinkled with shredded Italian cheese (mozzarella and parmesan). I got the recipe here.

And by the way, the split pea soup I made earlier this week was fantastic. The recipe came from Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass.

A Cozy Sunday Night

Fall seems to have settled back in today after a week of rather warm weather. I canned the last of the green beans yesterday and today we got some sprinkles of rain. I think canning is over for the year.

Dan went out with a friend after church to look at some land the friend is in the process of purchasing and to cut some wood. A tree had blown down near the fence line and they cut it up after running the survey lines and finding a section marker. I stayed home and took a nap! Yeah, as usual, Dan was out being busy and I was resting easy. :-)

When I roused myself from the sofa where I'd been curled up under the quilt daughter-in-law Amy made us last Christmas, I decided we'd have leftover soup for supper. I got the last of some artisan bread dough out of the fridge and shaped a loaf. I love that it's fall and time for cozy food again.

The bread turned out perfectly. I've figured out the best temperature and time for my oven. The towel is one I made using a Mary Mulari machine applique design. Isn't it perfect for fall?

The soup is an easy one I found in Paula Deen's magazine (September/October 2009) and it's very yummy.

Paula Deen's Black Bean Soup

• Five slices bacon, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 14-oz cans of black beans, drained (I used 50% less sodium)
• 2 14-oz cans chicken broth (I used reduced sodium)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder

In medium Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium high heat until it begins to brown. Add onion and garlic; cook for 3 to 4 minutes until onion is tender. Add beans, broth, cumin and chili powder. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

In container of a blender, spoon half of soup and process until almost smooth. Return processed mixture to Dutch oven and stir to combine. Paula suggests garnishing with sour cream and chives. I did not. (And I also did not use onions because they don't like me.)

I told Dan that if I ate this soup and bread at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant somewhere I'd be singing its praises to friends. Yes, dinner was that good. :-)

My Life as a Cookie Baker

Yes, it's true. My alter ego is Cookie Baker and has been for quite some time. When I was growing up, my mom was a great cook, but she wasn't a baker. If she made a dessert, it was usually something "gooey" like Dump Cake, or Strawberry Angel Delight, or Cherry Cha Cha. All, I readily admit, loved and eaten by me. Right down to the last lick.

But I had this dream of a house, a kitchen, and a cookie jar that was always full. I think I was about eighteen and working when I first started my cookie-making ways. My first cookbook was one entitled Desserts by The Garden Club, published in 1967. (I am amused right now because I pulled it off the shelf to be certain of the title, and when I opened it for further information, the committee members names are listed. They are all Mrs. (insert man's first and last name). No Chris Miller, no Susan Smith, just Mrs. Somebody. I had completely forgotten about those days when married women had no name of their own.)

Forgive me. I digress. Anyway, the only section of that entire cookbook that I've used is the cookie section, and I still use it. I baked cookies and took them to work. I even used them to send to a former co-worker and began a long distance romance that lasted two years. Cookies. Powerful potions!

A few years later, I met my Sweetie and confess to using my cookie baking skills to help reel him in. Turns out, his mom never made cookies (she made pies), and he dreamed of a home with a full cookie jar. Talk about made for each other!!

Our first house was a tiny 8' x 35' trailer equipped with a small gas stove and oven. I swear that the best cookies I ever made were in that gas oven. I think it had just the perfect temperature and humidity for them. We sold that trailer in 1973 and thus began my quest to recapture those perfectly baked cookies. I tinkered with recipes, added and subtracted ingredients, and still never quite got to those perfect cookies of the gas oven. My cookies were good, but I knew the difference.

Several years ago I was eating a cookie made for me by one of my student's mother. It was perfect!! The next time I saw the mom, I grilled her for her secret. Gas oven? No. Where did the recipe come from? Back of the bag. I tried it. Didn't work. Back to the mom. More questioning resulted in the secret: real butter. So back to my recipes. I began using half margarine and half real butter. Voila!!! My cookies were back!

And Kathy, to answer your question as to why I use margarine, butter, and shortening in the previous cookies recipe? Laziness. The original recipe called for 2/3 cup shortening, 2/3 cup margarine. I hated having to cut two cubes of margarine into 1/3 cup chunks to get the 2/3, and the same with the butter. So, 1/2 cup butter (one cube), and 1/2 cup margarine (one cube) and 1/3 cup shortening was the easiest way. Still added up to 4/3 cup of um, fat. :-)

I wish I had kept a total of the cookies I've made over the years, but I'm certain I could fill this whole house with them were they all to be gathered into one space and time. I have a glass canister I purchased for fifteen cents from a neighbor twenty some years ago and it's a rare day that there are no cookies in it.

Oh, and my daughter used to raise a little money for herself in high school by selling the cookies I'd put in her lunch. She knew there were more at home.

Comfort Cookies

Dan and I drove out to the woods this morning and it was beautiful. Not much snow, but heavy frost which made every pine needle, every branch, every weed a thing of grace and beauty. The sun was out and it was as if the world was created out of diamonds. My sweetie is a total woods man. He has spent many, many years working in and caring for his beloved woods. I love the woods, too, but not like he does. "See those dying trees? Grand fir. The soil isn't good for them." And when I pointed out an adorable little tree by the side of the road, he said, "Spruce." The man knows his trees. I think adorable, he thinks species. :-)

When we got home it was noon and we grabbed some lunch and then I noticed our empty cookie jar. And beside it a basket of fruit which included one and a half bananas which were past their prime. Hmmm, memories of an old family recipe came to mind so I hunted it up, pulled my trusty Kitchenaid over, and began. The recipe is from my aunt, my dad's older sister, Betty Jane. When I was growing up, she was one of my most favorite people. If I came home from school and found her at our house, it was like chancing upon a wonderful party. She was fun. When I was in high school, I was at her house one afternoon and she was making these cookies. When I left, I had the recipe. They are comfort cookies--soft inside, with a crispy exterior. Perfect on a winter's day with tea. Here's the recipe.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup mashed banana
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup nuts (I used pecans)

Cream shortening and sugar. Add bananas and egg and mix. Add dry ingredients, then oatmeal. Add nuts. Drop on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. Makes 3 1/2 dozen.


And yes, that's a Christmas towel beside them. Or, let's just say it's a red plaid towel with a woodsy tree on it. ;-) (A Mary Mulari machine applique design.)

A Tale of Bread

I mixed up my first batch of Artisan Bread dough on Sunday using the basic recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. On Monday, we had Ann, Eric and the boys over to have Christmas. Earlier as Ann and I spoke on the phone about what to have for dinner, I mentioned the bread dough and the possibility of using it for pizza crust. She had mozzarella, olives and some peperoni, and I had Canadian bacon and sauce. Done deal. We had fun putting the pizza together, checking the book for instructions as we went along. The moment of truth came and we slid the first pizza off the peel and onto the hot baking stone in the oven. Twenty minutes later, we took it out, slid in number two and sat down to eat. Eric took the first bite. "Wow!" he said. Cameron and Keaton bit into theirs and smiled. Finally I took a bite and it was crusty, chewy, and fabulous!! Why, oh why, did I wait so long?

Number one disappeared in short order, but here is a picture of number two right out of the oven.


Yesterday I decided we'd better get back to our bean soup from Saturday, and a loaf of artisan bread would be just the thing to go with it. It was a snap to get it ready and into the oven. I was washing up a few things when I heard a strange noise. As I was glancing around the kitchen trying to determine what I heard, I glanced into the oven (I had the light on so I could watch it bake) and saw that my baking stone had cracked. And I do mean cracked! It was in three pieces and had spread apart as much as two inches on one side. Miraculously my little loaf of bread remained straddled across the gaping divide and so I continued to let it bake.


It cooled, and we had it for dinner with the soup. It was wonderfully crusty on the top and chewy in the middle. The bottom was not quite so crusty as most of it had baked in mid air, so to speak, the last half of the time.

My baking stone?


It's in the trash.

Kitchen Update

First, I need to say that I made another batch of spritz cookies last week and had a much easier time. I think my butter was too cold the first time and that led to my problems. This time a cookie popped out with each click of the trigger and stuck to the cookie sheet. Sweet success!!

Second, the pressure cooker rocks! I can't believe how easy it was to make a wonderful, flavorful bean soup in just a matter of little more than an hour. I did let it simmer the rest of the afternoon, but we could easily have eaten it much sooner. I can't wait to try again.

Third, I just finished mixing up the dough for artisan bread!


It is rising in the kitchen and before I head for bed I'll pop it into the frig. I'm not sure when I'll bake the first loaf as I think we're having Christmas with Ann, Eric and the boys tomorrow night.

And finally, Dan got a nice cow elk this afternoon so we're set for meat for another year! For those of you unacquainted with elk, in my opinion it rivals any beef for flavor. (And I must say, I do love passing up the meat section of the grocery store with its incredible prices.) Dan always does all his own cutting and he is very particular about how its done, but I promise--no pictures of my kitchen in its butchershop mode!

Christmas Gifts

We're not done with Christmas yet, but yesterday Dan and I opened presents from each other and our present from Matt, Amy and Ryan. Amy made us a beautiful quilt!


The pattern is an Atkinson Designs called Slide Show and Amy picked out many of the fabrics when she was in Portland and Sisters, Oregon this summer. We love the pattern and the fabrics and it's a beautiful addition to our living room! Here is its current home:



And speaking of presents, last Christmas, thanks to CJ and Judy I asked Dan for a pressure cooker. Both CJ and Judy are always writing about things they cook in theirs and I decided I wanted one. Time for true confessions: A whole year has gone by and I've let that crazy pressure cooker buffalo (as we say here in the west) me!! Dan is elk hunting today, and I decided today was the day. I used it to cook up a mix of dried beans which I will turn into bean soup with German sausage made from last year's elk.


There it is--on my stove. I didn't blow up the house and it wasn't hard. Why do I let myself get intimidated by new things?? Honestly!! I just checked, the pressure had gone down, so I removed the lid. Mmmmm, smells sooo good! Dan will be so surprised!

And since I'm into confessions here, I must confess that Dan also got me the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook last Christmas (yes, I asked for it). And I haven't used it. But, since I've conquered the pressure cooker, I can't help but feel Artisan bread is next! I've made hundreds of loaves of regular bread, so why does this new style have me, yes, buffaloed?? It's the stone, the peel, and that tray of water. Timing. But I will prevail!!!



See the beautiful wooden peel propped against the back of my counter? Dan made it for me! On the counter is the Artisan bread cookbook and one of this year's presents, The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. I've had lots of fun reading it since I opened it yesterday morning. Some women love jewelry, roses, and chocolate. I love cookbooks, pots and pans, and sewing machines! Bless my sweetie's heart, he knows what I love.

A New Recipe Tried

Thanks to my friend, Kathy, I get emails from Better Homes and Gardens for the holidays. The other day one came through featuring cookie recipes, so I clicked and checked out a few. One caught my eye, mainly because I actually had all the ingredients and it was for bar cookies. I tried it yesterday, and with a little change or two, it turned out quite yummy. (At least Dan seems to think so as the container is surrounded by crumbs!)

Butterscotch-Toffee Bars

1 package 2-layer-size yellow cake mix
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted (I used margarine)
2 eggs
1 cup cashews or toasted pecans, chopped (I used 1/3 cup pecans and didn't toast)
1 8-oz package toffee pieces (I used half an 8-oz pkg of Heath English Toffee Bits)

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 15x10x1" pan. Combine cake mix, brown sugar, melted butter, and eggs. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Stir in nuts. Pat dough into prepared pan and spinkle with toffee pieces. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into bars.

I thought they looked rather, umm, unattractive when I took them out, so I decided to spruce them up a bit. I took two squares of white candy bark, melted them in the microwave, and then used a spoon to drizzle the whole pan before cutting into bars.

Here's a picture of a couple of the finished products. I just asked Dan what he thought of the new cookies and he said, "I love 'em!" There you go, a completely candid evaluation by a very experienced cookie muncher.

On Oatmeal and Decorating

Strange title, huh? Well, those are two topics on my mind today. First, the oatmeal. Last night we had a young couple over for dinner. We met Will and Briana through church and we've been meeting with them on a regular basis since last winter. They became engaged this fall and like to ask us questions about different aspects of married life as they talk about their future together. Will has Celiac's Disease which means he cannot eat any food containing gluten. We usually have ice cream for dessert as it's safe (however, always reading ingredient lists is crucial--no cookie dough ice cream!). I decided to try something different last night and decided upon a recipe for cherry crisp from Cooking Light. It calls for flour in the topping, but I replaced it with oatmeal I ground to flour in the blender. As we were eating dinner, I excitedly announced my dessert to Will and Briana only to see a chagrined look pass between them. Then Will explained that oats are always grown in the vicinity of wheat and usually processed on the same equipment in granaries. Did you know that oatmeal is up to one-fourth wheat?? I certainly didn't. So, Will ate ice cream. Again. And Briana said she'd help by eating his share of the crisp. :-)

So on to decorating. I love my house. Now that I'm retired, I have time to think about it: how I want it to look, the sense of home I want it to convey to visitors. I used to love to buy decorating magazines, but somehow the ones coming out today seem to be mostly ads, and the homes featured seem removed from most people's every day reality. (I can't tell you how many times I've shown pictures to Dan and said, "This bathroom is bigger than our bedroom!") I've lately discovered several blogs that deal with decorating and they are inspiring me. I tend to be somewhat of a minimilist, but I love distinctive, homey accents. Many of the bloggers are do-it-yourselfers and I tell myself that if they can do it, so can I. I may be picking up a paint brush soon and attacking some long-needed projects. I loved one bloggers comment that if her husband gifted her with a finishing nail gun for Christmas she'd be able to complete her longed-for trim work. I'm pretty sure we have one, but I think I'll inspire Dan to use ours! Spritz cookie, anyone?



In this picture, the Christmas goose was made by our son Matt and wife Amy a few years ago. We love it. The quilt seen on the sofa was pieced by me probably five years ago, and I finally quilted it last year just after Christmas. It's a nine patch on point.

Christmas Cookies

Dan had a meeting last night, so as he was leaving, I decided it would be a good evening to make some cookies. Spritz cookies. When we were first married and I made dozens upon dozens of Christmas cookies, I borrowed my Mom's Mirro spritz cookie press. It was all aluminum with a large screw you turned to press out the cookies. It was a little difficult to use, but I eventually got the hang of it. Several years later, someone came out with an electric "cookie gun" and my mother-in-law was kind enough to get it for me that Christmas. It was a dream to work with and I loved it until one year the seam in the barrel blew out. End of cookie gun. A few years ago I purchased a manual cookie press from Pampered Chef. It has a trigger. Last night as I used it for the first time in several years, I had a great deal of trouble getting the cookies out and then getting them to stick to the cookie sheet. Maybe the dough was too stiff, or maybe my butter hadn't warmed up enough, or maybe my hands have gotten too old. I'll try again, but I'm thinking of borrowing back Mom's old Mirro press.


Here's the result of my baking. I do love how they look and taste. Pure Christmas baking heaven. And can you see the cute snowman timer in the background? We got him in McCall a number of years ago on a trip through to Boise.