Happy Valentines's Day 2014.....and Monster Cookies

Happy Valentine' Day to each of you!

Made these "Monster Cookies" for my sweet hearts

from Sally's Baking

found here

Except I did cook mine a bit longer.... 12-14 minute.

...and that is all of the cooking I am doing today...lunch on me...dinner on sweetie!!

Blessings and  L O V E  all,

Kathy

Pinterest Paying Off...

Finally got around to trying one the recipes that I "pinned" on Pinterest...Pistachio Cranberry Cookies!!

The recipe said it makes 2 dozen but I make 31 cookies..

tasty and so festive for our Christmas season too.

Here is the site with the recipe...

home baked memories

Blessings all,

Kathy

Crab Apple Jelly...a first!!

This is a first for me...making crab apple jelly!!

The crab apples were given to me by a friend and I must admit
at first I thought

...looks like a lot of work since they are so small.

But after I got going
it was really quick.

I have not tasted it yet
but the pale pink color is just lovely.

Blessings all,
Kathy

Yummy...Fresh Mountain Apple Cake

Here is one of those delicious looking recipes that facebook has been posting for some time now and after our mountain trip, I decided to try it with our apples from the orchards.

Fresh Apple Cake

 Here is daddy's that I am taking over...

I have always used a bundt pan recipe from my mama's home town church recipe book and it is really good. But this turned out just fine and is easy to slice and serve.

Happy Fall Monday!!

Blessings all,

Kathy

Love Easy Dinners...

What to cook?

Have you gotten like me and are kinda "cooked out"?

After years of my interest in nutrition and preparing fancier meals I have found that I am just plain

cooked out of ideas.

So, what is for dinner tonight ?

Ribeye (grilled inside & we are sharing one)

Asparagus (grilled)

Mushrooms (grilled)

Baked potato (oven)

Frozen garlic bread (oven w/potatoes)

I mean EASY....

Please...share your EASY dinner meal ideas with me!!!

Blessings all

Kathy

Labor of Love...revisited!!!

On the nights that I do water aerobics or water Zumba(real fun), I try to have dinner all ready so that Cliff can go ahead and eat before I get back...he never does. So I prepare foods that will stay warm.

Tonight I decided to go back to my bread baking and homemade pie crust days and make a quiche.

Herbs from the almost gone garden

From one of my favorite cook books...Moosewood...like the vegetarian epicure too...

Anyone remember these??? 

An herb crust...

Covered with a damp cloth and in the frig til I am ready to use...

And probably the best thing about the whole process is getting to use

my grandmama, "Mema's" rolling pin~~

Also finished up a 

block of the month for Guild

for our Christmas drawing.

Blessings all

on this almost Fall day,

Kathy

You are going to be Jealous....

I have wanted a new basket for some time now...

and here it is!!!!

You must check out  Deb's ( my blog friend) mom's baskets!

Granny's Basket Shop

She makes lovely baskets.

She also has an Etsy shop .

I hope to have these jars filled with pear preserves this weekend

and put two of them in my new

"Country Jelly Basket."

Thank you "Granny", Mildred Daniel !!!

Blessings all,

Kathy

Strawberry Jam 2013....Summer Wallet Give Away WINNER !!!

The Duke's Strawberry Jam 2013

Hard....no

Easy... no

Messy...yes

Time Consuming...yes

Costly...yes

Worth It...YES !!!

In case you wondered how it got in the jars...

Blessings all,

Kathy

PS I am drawing for the wallet give away at 8:00 pm ( Saturday)...

***********************************

I drew...and the winner is...

Nancy
over at 
Cozy Thyme Cottage

Congrats and enjoy!! ........"My Twin"

**************************************

I am hearing "pops" coming from the kitchen!!!

Strawberry Bread for Daddy....and memories

We lived on the North Carolina coast for 6 years in a small fishing village and in the neighboring area. While there we would often get fresh produce from the Jones Strawberry Farm in Pelletier. I purchased their small but wonderful little cook book which I have used many times over the years.

There are recipes for strawberry punch, cooler, sauce, pies, jam, cake (yummy), biscuits with strawberry topping,...but today I am baking the strawberry bread. Daddy brought me some strawberries from the farmer's market last week and I am just getting to them...subbed all last week and NOT used to working anymore...

He will be 86,  YES 86 !!! tomorrow...he always loves telling us that he was born on the day that Charles Lindbergh  flew his famous trans Atlantic flight!!! He is grilling steaks for all of us (eleven, I think) on Friday and insisted that we NOT bring gifts this year. It is also our great nephew's 5th birthday and to just bring Simon presents...

So, I will take him his strawberry bread for his "present" tomorrow.

Nuts that my sweet guild friend shelled for me this winter after her husband unexpectedly died and she needed to "fill some time"...I cherish these pecans.

And my handy little grater...fresh nutmeg adds such a special touch.

My "MaDugette's "bowl...isn't it great and I use it all the time!

Here is a good picture of daddy with "his girls"...Melissa, daddy and me...

You know we've not been the same since mama died almost 8 years ago..but he had gone on beautifully with his life at church, friends, cooking and washing, delivering Meals on Wheels, just no more golf because his friends are dead or can not play...he's in fantastic shape and still exercises EVERY day...86 !!

Blessings all,

Kathy

Cabbage and Quilting...

Well, the time has finally come to begin cooking from the garden...potato salad with garden onions and those hard to keep "debugged" pointed head cabbage.

And another baby girl quilt from my  Needles and Pins shop on Etsy.

And take a look at my new fabric labels.

I am very pleased with how they came out.

I ordered them from Michelle at Inked Papers.
You will have to give her shop a look too!!

Have a restful Sunday and and wonderful week.

Blessings all,

Kathy 

ps....am planning a give away real soon!!

Give the Gift of a Meal......

What a wonderful gift to receive a meal when your home is out of order...
death, sickness, new baby, hospital duty, parent duty, or just too much going on...a gift is just that!!



Here is a wonderful site to help you organize your meals for a friend and it also has ideas for meals to take to that someone special. I have friends that have use this site and received meals from this wonderful plan too!

Take Them a Meal and here is an example of listed recipe all ready for you to prepare and take...

Crunchy Browm Rice Crust Chicken Pot Pie

Serves 6

This is a delicious alternative to traditional chicken pot pie. The Parmesan melts into the rice to create a tasty crust, but omit the cheese, if you like.

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for greasing 
• 1 tablespoon butter 
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces 
• 1/4 pound sliced button mushrooms 
• 2 teaspoons chopped thyme, divided 
• 1 large carrot, chopped 
• 1 rib celery, thinly sliced 
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped 
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour 
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth 
• 1 cup whole milk 
• 1 cup cooked brown rice or brown and wild rice blend 
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika 
• 1/2 cup frozen peas

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie dish with oil; set aside

Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, 1 teaspoon of the thyme, carrots, celery, onions, salt and pepper and cook until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add broth and milk, stir well and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until very thick, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine rice, cheese, paprika, remaining 1 teaspoon thyme, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Stir peas into chicken mixture then season with salt and pepper and transfer to prepared dish. Scatter rice mixture evenly over the top then arrange dish on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake until bubbly and crust is crisp, about 30 minutes.

Let me know if you have ever used this site OR if you are planning to use it to help coordinate meals for a friend...it will be fun to see the results!!

Blessings all for a healthy and gift giving week!!

Kathy

The Best $2.50 I Spend....

is paying for six ears of fresh corn in the early summer and at then end of summer.

This year I did not "put up" any frozen corn but I sure did cut a lot off the cob for stewed corn.It is just the two of us and you know it is a lot of work to cut it off and freeze, so I just make it when we want some.  It seems to be in the store all the year round now too, but NOT as good as local sweet corn in the summer. But to be perfectly honest with you, I do miss fixing it with my mama and her sisters and everybody taking some home to freeze and save for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That seems to be the two special occasions when we all expect and really want it, isn't it!!

Well, here in eastern North Carolina this is the way I leaned to make it...or watched it being made for many years by my mama and grand mamas...I kinda figured it out on my own about 5-6 years ago.

Stewed or Creamed Corn

Shuck and remove the silks from 6 ears of corn

Cut the corn off  of each cob but NOT too close

Next, go back and scrap each cob, on all sides,  with the edge of a smaller knife

and here is where the "cream" comes from.

My Aunt Bobbi would say "Kathy, you are cutting it too close"

EVERY time I cut, I can hear her telling me this as a reminder!!

A puddle of pure gold!!

Mix this all together and put in a frying pan and 1/2 cup water,

add salt and LOTS of black pepper

and the good stuff, bacon grease!!

YES, bacon grease.

I save the grease from frying bacon in the mornings and even blot it on paper towels...

isn't that funny...then I add it back!!!

Make a roux by adding about 1/8 cup of flour and putting about 1 T of grease

on top...it will melt in as it begins to cook.

I have found these three to be the key ingredients

and do not skimp on any one of them...

taste and add more salt & pepper as it cooks.

I think a lot of black pepper makes it perfect.

Stir and it will melt in as it cooks.

Here it is after cooking for about 30-40 minutes.

And here it is as we begin to eat our Sunday lunch.

One of our family favorites...

Blessings all,

Kathy