Busy, busy, busy!

I am really not trying to neglect my blog!  The past 7 days have just been so insane that at times I feel like I'm spinning in circles.  But I have been cooking, and thinking about blogging....does that count?  Either way, I have some good ideas spinning around in my head that I'm working on trying to get transferred from in my head onto my blog. 

The weather has changed a bit here, and I can just feel fall coming on!  I love fall cooking - the spices, the pumpkin, the pumpkin, and, oh, did I mention pumpkin!!  Last year our neighbor share a gooseneck pumpkin and I cooked it down and used in my faux Starbucks Pumpkin scones and it was wonderful.  I am hoping to find some on my own this year, as his was a leftover from making pumpkin ale, and I'm not sure if he's repeating that or not this year.  Canned pumpkin will work of course, but fresh cooked pumpkin really added a sweetness and texture that I liked.  A lot.  Maybe a bit too much! 

So, I'm off to get some more to-do's checked off of my list before the little munchkins get up from nap.  But I'll be back here soon, and hopefully ready to share some pics and recipes!

Cookbook Memories

As a kid, I was the dinner cook in my house.  I made a lot of dinners, usually some potato, venison or fish, and vegetable. Nothing spectacular but the usual fare.  I always thought I was a decent cook.  Then I got married to my husband, Troy and tasted his mom's cooking.  Oh my.  I wasn't in the same class as her.  That was for darn sure!!  She baked from scratch, made meals from magazines and cookbooks that looked like the pictures and I was completely in awe, and very intimidated.

I was able to cook with some prepared ingredients, could make cookies, and knew the basics but it was really my mother-in-law who really sparked my love of real cooking.  Her food brought the family together and it was an event every time.  You could feel the love for her family through her cooking and I wanted that for my young family.

My husband's first request proved to be a "test" of sorts, although it was an innocent enough sounding request from him, was no-bakes.  Okay, so some of you out there may be laughing at me.  No-bakes was a test?  Really?  And I call myself a foodie.  Well, for me, at that point, he may as well have been asking me to scale Mt. Everest.  Because a) I had no idea what a no-bake was b) I had no idea how to make them even after he explained what it was.

So, off to his mom I went.  And she laughed at me too - nicely, but still a laugh.  She then handed me a cookbook that I could have that had a recipe in it for no-bakes. So, I made them.   Well, I followed the recipe anyway.  They did not set.  They were a mushy mess that tasted like them but weren't no-bakes.  So I boiled the sugar mixture longer the next time.  Then the cookies set but they crumbled apart and were grainy tasting, and so the back and forth dance of me and the no bakes went for years.  Now, if I'm distracted while cooking we will sometimes get a bit of the graininess in them and it always brings back the flood of memories of those first bits of trial and error in the kitchen.  And the love of a family who fostered my love of cooking.  I am thankful that this cookbook has become battered and beat up looking but it's one of the places I love to look for ideas that make me feel connected to something bigger than myself.  It's an era of cooking before the internet - I can imagine the thrill of first getting a new cookbook like this and getting all the ideas like I do when I visit the blogs I love.

So, last night I told Troy I'd make him cookies if he'd go running with me.  I knew what he'd ask for before we even got done.  So, no bakes were made last night and it inspired this blog post.  I wanted to share how blessed I have been in my life with all my friends, online and otherwise.

 

My No-Bake Cookie Recipe (adapted from above cookbook after much trial and error!)

1 c peanut butter, I use creamy

1 1/2 T cocoa

1/4 milk

1 1/2 c quick cooking oats (dry)

1 c sugar

1/4 c butter

1/2 t salt

1/2 t vanilla

Put sugar, butter, milk, cocoa and salt in larger sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Do not overcook - once at a rolling boil, remove from heat and add peanut butter, oats and vanilla and mix well.  Drop my teaspoon onto waxed paper and allow to cool and set.  

Makes about 2 dozen. 

Dessert first, please!

Easy dinner tonight...Beef Stew in the crockpot.  What could be easier than that?  Not much.  So, once that was all set and cooking, I got to work on a nice dessert.  Something not as easy.  Why?  I don't know.  Because that's me.  I spied some phyllo dough in the freezer and the wheels were set in motion.  I devised a berry strudel made from phyllo dough thinking I had some leftover pie filling to use.  Alas, no, I didn't.  Hmmmm.....well....I remembered there was a triple berry mix of dried berries in the cupboard (I almost always have dried fruit in the house, I love it!)  and I boiled it with enough water to cover it until the berries were soft and then drained them, reserving about half of the liquid and added some rose wine to reduce to a sauce.  Once cooled, I spread the berries onto the dough with walnuts and brown sugar, rolled it into a log shape and brushed it with butter.  I did save a few berries for garnish and also whipped some goat cheese, confectioners sugar and milk together to drizzle on top for a nice creamy note with zing.  I loved how it came out.  I did eat my stew, minus the beef, but was sure to leave plenty of room for what was coming after dinner!

Perfect Playtime Lunch

As a child care provider, I feel obligated to serve healthy foods and snacks to the little ones we share our home with each day.  I try very hard to not give them too much processed food, too much sugar, too much of anything that isn't natural and good for them.  One occasional exception is hot dogs.  I do buy the most natural types I can but it is just one of the those "must have" childhood foods.  However, how I serve it is different than the norm.  I make a muffin or cornbread that is based on its' unhealthy fair food cousin, the corn dog.  I make cornbread, one of my favorite things, add in some corn, chopped hot dogs and bake.  Served with some fresh fruit, it's pretty good lunch.  Kids love it and it's healthy! 

Recipe:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 hot dogs, quarter and diced
1/2 cup of cut corn, either fresh or thawed from frozen

Mix all ingredients together, either put into 12 greased muffin tins or into an 8X8 greased pan and bake at 375 for 20 minutes for muffins, 25 for an 8X8 pan, or until toothpick inserted is clear. 

I should add that the artwork was provided by Lucas, one of our little guys here.  He loves painting and this was his interpretation of a watercolor flower study.  :-)

Okay, so this was my first tag from another blog so thanks to Chic Gorgeous for making me smile! And here I am faced with sorting through my little blog's posts to make this a great list...  Well, here goes...

1. The Most Beautiful Post

So, if I have to choose it would by my Yellow Tomato Jam post.   I just thought this was the prettiest color of jam and being outside the light just hit it perfectly. 

2. The Most Popular Post
I don't have a lot of comments, but the post that I have gotten the most feedback on was my post that included a picture of homemade tomato soup and cheese crackers.  It seemed like everyone was loving that!  

3. The Most Controversial Post
Hmm...not much controversy here.  But I would say that My Eclairs post was the least homemade and least fitting into my blog's purpose, so that makes it a bit controversial.  Yummy but not entirely homemade. 

4. The Most Helpful Post
This was an easy pick!  My Oatmeal Bread Tutorial  really gave a good overview of breadmaking my way and I know several friends have tried it using those instructions and been successful. 

5. Post That Was Surprisingly Successful
Lunch Awesomeness  was really a creative use of leftovers but people really liked it!!  It goes to show that you can't plan everything!! 

6. Post That Did Not Get The Attention It Deserved
I really thought my Brownie Peanut Butter Cheesecake Muffins would have been a more popular post.  Maybe I should have shortened the name and made it catchier.  :-)

7. Post You're Most Proud Of
My first step by step post I'm most proud of.  I know my photography isn't up to par - not that any of mine are fantastic but I'm getting there  - but it really shows my thought process and "me" in it.  Baking Mood  is just how I do things...I go with my feelings and try and share it too. 

My Reward

This is not an amaze-all-your-friends super difficult type of dessert but it's one of my favorites.  Yesterday, I rode in my first group bike ride ever, and not only that, it was a metric century, or 100 km.  I was panic-stricken in the days leading up to it, sure I would crash into something, or worse yet, someone, and cause all kinds of havoc.  Add that fear to the forecast of rain showers and I was a mess.  So much so that my hubby had to keep talking me down and reassuring me that I COULD DO THIS!  And, he was right, 'cause I totally did it!  Yesterday was a lot of sleeping and resting because I got a bit dehydrated so today, while the kids were napping, I made a special treat for myself.  Oh, okay, I made enough for the whole family.  But it was what I wanted. 

A simple chocolate pudding parfait, with a ribbon of crushed Late July sandwich cookies in the middle and topped off with some whipped cream and a little cookie.  Yummy!  And it just hit the spot.  If you've never tried Late July snacks, you just don't know what you're missing!  (no paid endorsement here - I bought my own snacks, just a shout out to a great product!)  We love just about all of their products here!!

Lunch Awesomeness!

Okay, so awesomeness may not really be a word.  But I have no other words to describe what I ate for lunch.  It was simple, but amazing, two things I love in food!  I had some leftover ground turkey breast from dinner last night and since it is one of the few meats I actually like, I wanted to use it in something special.  What better way to showcase my tomato jam from yesterday than to put them together?  So, I decided on a creamy version of sloppy joe, with goat cheese as the binder for the meat with just a little salt and pepper because I really wanted the jam to be the star.  And it was.  Oh my...I never wanted my little sandwich to be done! 

So, I used a fresh roll from yesterday, scooped out the bottom a little to hold my "sloppy joe" mix, added some spinach, lots of tomato jam and had the yummiest lunch in a long time!  I'm still debating whether to make another one...trying hard to resist!