Making goodies

 Sunday was baking/creating day.  Maddie came over with the Greats.

Maddie made peanut butter blossoms, a chocolate chip/Reeses cookie and then Bugles with some almond bark and a M &M...I think it was supposed to look like a Grinch hat:)  

Andy made truffles, pretzels with a Hersheys kiss and an M&M...one night last week we did the pretzels with a Rolo candy and a pecan on top. 

I got to feed Baby K.  She got really mad at me when her bottle was done...her mood goes from okay to screaming crisis mode just like that.  No whining or fussing...just screaming!

She is very focused on her Mother's voice and her siblings make her giggle.   She had a bubble bath and afterwards I clipped her fingernails while she was asleep!

I can report that Maddie put an undershirt on the child!!

It was a chilly day.  High was 6F or -14C low was 3F or -16C 

Supper was a bacon cheeseburger, french fries and a chocolate shake...Andy is one heck of a cook!

Happy 46th Anniversary to my other baby brother and she who sees robins first!  

Far Side

Cookies

 Jen, Andy, Maddie and I baked sugar cookies on Friday after Far Guy's Doctor appointment.  BTW his appointment was okay...they are going to try him on a new med to help his breathing but as usual it has to be approved by insurance first. 

You say okay big deal...they made sugar cookies. 

The sugar cookies were for a wedding, the cookies were decorated with a philly cheese/powdered sugar frosting and then strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.

Someone we love very much got married in a very small ceremony on Saturday. 

We are back home safely, the roads were good for our return trip.

Far Side

Happenings

 Far Guy and I ventured out yesterday to his Doctor appointment, his old Primary Care Doctor here relocated so he has a new gal.   He needs a tetanus shot ...his ten years are up. She made him a list on a sticky note for things she wants clarified...like Advanced Care Directives...we turned them in last Spring...Far Guy wants to know how many copies they need?  He needs fasting lab work...all things that can be done here in town.  

After the appointment we went to Menards and then to Hobby Lobby where yarn might have been purchased for  new project.  You never can tell with these patterns how they will turn out...but I will give it a whirl. 

Sunday Jen was sick all day with the puking stomach flu...seems to be a six to seven day incubation...so we will see who gets it next.  

Andy and I made Chocolate Truffles and Bourbon Balls on Sunday.  Andy made Caramels on Saturday and Far Guy and I got them all individually wrapped on Sunday.  So we have a start on Christmas goodies. 

The tree across the street is all decorated with snow.

Far Side

Apple time

 I made Apple Crisp.  I should have followed a recipe, maybe next time I will.  I just dumped some butter, oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and flour together for the crisp part.  It was still good...but it could have been better. Apparently measuring is important! 

The apples are from niece Katie's apple trees in North Dakota. 

Far Guy and I visited my Mom in the Nursing Home and Beth in the hospital yesterday and then we went out for lupper.   Mom is doing okay, her memory fails her sometimes, Beth is out of ICU and is feeling better but not good enough to come home yet. 

Far Side

Wedding at the lake

 My Niece got married yesterday...she picked the hottest day of the year.   It was about 98 F. 

We sat in the shade out by the lake at my baby brothers lake place.  He has been babying grass on the hillside all Spring....it looked really pretty.

They said their vows out in the sunshine on the patio.   The Pastor was a bit long winded and he was sweating buckets....black shirt and all.  

It was a casual wedding.  The beautiful bride is my other baby brother's daughter. 

Far Guy was not feeling up to going.   My baby brother picked me up and I stayed for the wedding...Jordan brought me back home right after the ceremony.  We were babysitting Baxter (my baby brother's dog) and Annie (my sister's dog) because they would have been in the way during the wedding and the doings afterwards.   They missed me while I was gone, Far Guy said that Baxter serenaded him...and Annie just snored.

  Last week I made Lemon Cookies for the wedding doings. 

Today is Andy and Jen's 23rd wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary kids!!

Far Side

New Projects

 I decided sometime over the New Year to try some new to me things or finish an old project every week.  I was tired of the same old same old in Isolation 2020 that carried over to Isolation 2021.

Baking dinner rolls from scratch.  I have made bread from scratch but not dinner rolls.

They don't look much like the photo that was on Facebook but they were still good and easy peasy. 

Big Fat Yeast Rolls

1 cup warm water

1 package or 2 1/2 teaspoons of dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons softened butter

1 egg beaten

3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour

Put water and yeast in a large mixing bowl (I mixed this gently with a spatula)  add the sugar, salt, butter and egg. Beat with dough hook until well blended.

Add 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour, mix until soft dough forms that is not sticky.

Put the dough on a floured board and knead a few times until smooth.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for about 45 minutes.  I  use a corn/rice bag that is toasty warm after a few minutes in the microwave...I nestle the bowl onto the top of the bag. 

Punch down and turn onto a floured board. Divide dough into 12 large pieces and shape into round balls. Place in greased 13 x 9 inch  baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise about 30 minutes on a warm corn/rice bag.

Bake for 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Brush tops with butter. 

I timed this and you should start the recipe about 2 hours before you want warm fresh out of the oven dinner rolls for supper. 

Far Guy liked them...and I liked them also so we declare it a winner of a recipe!  I used all white flour but will try it with my mix of whole wheat and white flour..I mix my own flour... half and half.

Old project: Looking through all of our woodcarving magazines and books.  I tear out instructions for projects that I might want to do someday and put them in a folder and recycle the rest of the magazine after Far Guy has paged through them...I keep more than he does.. This project is about half done so it will continue a few more days.  

Far Side

Muffins!

I baked!  Well first I cleaned out a cupboard in the kitchen and found a partial bag of Bran Cereal that I was supposed to use for muffins.  Saw it and threw it on the counter...that top cupboard is awfully tall so I have to use a step ladder to clean out all the corners real good.  I recalled the tart dried cherries I had in the deep freeze...would they still be good? 

There were more bran flakes than the recipe called for...so I didn't measure I just dumped and added more of everything....I could not replicate the recipe to save my life.

They turned out just fine...another baking success!  I found a bunch of corn meal...that will wait for another day.

Years ago I used to make muffins for Far Guy every week, he would grab two out of the freezer on his way to work...he would thaw them out on the 90 mile drive.  Back then he took coffee with him but he had a small coffee maker that plugged into the cigarette lighter so he could warm up his coffee or make some fresh.

It was a nice day here yesterday...in the evening it turned cool with the wind coming from the East across the lake. During the day Far Guy woodcarved outside and I cleaned up the solar light garden.

There is still about five inches of snow at the snowstick. We may get rain on Thursday.

Goodbye March....you were not a real pleasant month for anyone.  BUT I am thankful we made it through the month.  Stay safe everyone!
Far Side

Biscuits and Yarn

The grocery store was out of several items that were on our list.  Carrots... who knew there was a rush on carrots....maybe people have more time to peel their own now.  English Muffins that Far Guy likes to make egg and ham breakfast sandwiches and Pillsbury Biscuits that I wanted to use when I resurrected some Thanksgiving Turkey out of the deep freeze... for Turkey and Gravy over biscuits.

I spring cleaned one of the kitchen cupboards.  I filled the flour containers...I use a mix of white flour and wheat for bread.  I wanted to make sure I had enough if it comes down to me making bread.  I had a bag of self rising flour...so I decided to see if I could make biscuits.

I could and they are really good!  They are a bit tall and rustic looking!  Far Guy said they were really good too...I handed him the recipe card and said "You can do it! " 2 cups self rising flour, cut in 1/4 cup butter then add 3/4 cup milk stir well and then knead make biscuits bake 12 minutes 400 degrees on a greased cookie sheet.

My new yarn arrived earlier this week....I have four shawls in the works now...one will be frogged as I am not happy with it...one is being blocked and two others are in progress....here is one. 

You will see more of this yarn as I had to order five skeins.  It is called Restful Rainbow.  This is another Crochet Along called Keep Calm and Crochet On hosted by a gal on a facebook crochet group.

Far Guy did most of his walking outside yesterday.  I started  to watch a show called Tiger King on Netflix.  (I have to keep closing my eyes during the sssnake parts and one time I forgot to open them back up and fell asleep.) This week I watched Valentine's Day and give it a 9 out of 10 stars....a fun movie.
Far Side

Dried Cherry Kuchen

Connie's Kook-Ken

Here is the recipe I adapted for my own use.  This makes 2 pie plates of Kuchen.

1 package of Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls there are 8 in a package.

Take 4 rolls smoosh them all together and roll them out.  Place in buttered pie plate.  Repeat for second pie plate. Prick with fork and bake at 350 for 10 -15 minutes. 

Filling
2 cups or 1 Pint of Heavy Whipping Cream
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
dash of salt
Vanilla
Crack eggs into a medium size pot beat with a fork until frothy then add sugar, salt and vanilla and beat some more....slowly add cream stirring constantly and vigorously!

Cook on medium heat stirring constantly...mixture will thicken.  Take it off the heat before it burns!

Lay fruit on the dough, add filling and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake 350 for 25 minutes

We like fresh fruit and have tried raspberries and blueberries.  Both were good.  I prefer the raspberries!

Yes it is possible to use dried fruits...I used tart dried cherries.   Our friends gave it two thumbs up!

You can always make a plain kuchen...I did this time...one was with dried cherries and one was plain.  We added fresh raspberries to the top of the plain one.

We discussed what our friends grandmothers used to put in kuchen...peaches, apples (perhaps they were cooked a bit no one remembers!), plums and all kinds of berries.

Most of the recipes I looked at called for a sweet dough for the crust.  I tried the cinnamon rolls just as an experiment because I am lousy at pie crust dough and the sweet dough recipes made like 8 crusts...and I just wanted 2 crusts.  You could always make some kind of gluten free crust also.

Here is a photo of the dried cherry kuchen....as you can see most of it was eaten!  ( I am not very good at getting the dough up on the sides of the pie plate)

It was very good.  I still like raspberry the best!

Supper with our friends is always great!  They served a pot roast with roasted vegetables...carrots and squash.  Next month it is our turn and I will have to come up with something delicious to serve!

Far Side

Viola

The 6th mulching was accomplished.  We cleared out the grates that are in front of the door and in the walkway.   The weather sounds like it will turn rain/snowy and cold again.  We are caught up with lawn work for the moment.  Perhaps the rain/snow will bring down the last of the leaves.

Menus were made for the week.  Kuchen was made for a night out with friends.  This time I experimented using dried cherries in one of the kuchen...we will see how it tastes!

Viola

Far Side

Leaves

The snow has melted...and it knocked a bunch of leaves out of the trees as it fell.  For awhile there it looked more like a leaf storm than a snow storm.

Looks like I will be busy once it dries out!

The Impatiens froze but the Salvia and Violas will live to see a few more days.

Trees along the driveway.

I am tired and had a very long nap Monday afternoon.  Most everything from the party has been put away, left over cake was frozen in individual servings.  Cake pans were mostly returned...I still have one bundt pan that belongs to my sister in law.

For future reference...the Pumpkin Cake was a whole lot like the Pumpkin bread I make.  The Apple Cinnamon Cake was awesome as was the Hershey's Chocolate Cake.  I did not taste the Lemon Poppyseed or the Lemon pound cake.  Bakers Joy is an awesome spray...we had no cakes that stuck in the bundt pans!
Far Side

Let there be cake!

Cakes were accomplished...Katie and Jen helped!  The cakes will be decorated a bit at the church...I will make some icing once they have been safely delivered to the church.  Decorated a bit my meaning is a bit of powdered sugar on some...some will get a powdered sugar icing with lemon flavor and some icing will be sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.  Nine cakes were baked.  Chocolate, Lemon Poppyseed, Lemon Pound, Apple Cinnamon and Pumpkin.

Later in the day fruit was cut up and everything gathered together.  Ready or not!

Cakes are all over... some in the kitchen and some in the laundry room...making good use of my clothes folding area!

Far Guy ran all the errands yesterday to pick up buns from the bakery and to pick up meat for the buns.  We should be all set!
Far Side

Ready set

SNOW??

Yes it snowed...most of the day yesterday it melted...but toward evening it began to stay on the grass.

 My flowers held in there

Impatiens and a Yellow Viola

Ready set BAKE

Aubrey and Katie helped bake cookies....Swedish Browns and Lemon Cookies

This is the remnant of about 15 dozen cookies.  I mixed up the Swedish Browns (sometimes I call them Sweet Molly Browns) before they got here and when they arrived we began and in two hours the cookies were baked and cooling and the kitchen all cleaned up!   It is great to have baking help!!  Aubrey is a great helper as is my niece Katie!!!!! 

Ready set Bake again!  I am all set for the Cake Bake today!

Gathering what you need is half the battle.  4 cakes are from scratch and 3 are helped with the assistance of a cake mix and lemon pudding.  I hope they all turn out okay.

Far Side

Scones and socks

Adam and I moved lots of snow.  

We made scones. Adam had not used a pastry blender before. 

I finished my first trial pair of socks.  It is possible for me to knit socks.  I learned much...and there are a few things I will do differently from now on.  I need a list to mark off what I have done... not quite row by row but close.  Since I am counting challenged I should mark my rows so my socks end up being exactly the same! 

Yeah for socks!

Boo hiss for snow

Far Side

Snowy Day Activities

It snowed all day Monday, now it will blow around today.  At least it has to warm up to snow.  Small consolation.

T.I.R.E.D of snow….need sunshine.

I need blue skies, liquid water and something green.   Spring cannot come too soon.

Trying to teach myself to knit socks on four needles…that is an adventure.  Working on a woodcarving….still struggling with my arm and shoulder placements…I can get one side just perfect and the other side looks like the guy has a broken arm.

Baking:  Couldn’t find the recipe I wanted for Lemon Cupcakes so I guessed ( how do those chefs on baking shows do it?  They just add ingredients without measuring and it turns out! ) anyways they sunk to half the size after I took them out of the oven…I watched them deflate….Far Guy said they were pretty good…like a pound cake.  Then I made hockey pucks…a brownie mix put into cupcake liners…I guess I baked them a little too long…tried to make them more appealing by pressing old Halloween chocolates into the tops….I could use them as weapons.

Now I have a recipe for Apple Fritters made in the air fryer…wish me luck!

Far Side

Christmas Preparations

My husband bakes awesome Caramel Rolls which he calls Cinnamon Rolls.  What ever he calls them they are delicious! Jen was the assistant baker.  They made two pans.

The are packaged and put away until Christmas morning…but we did have to taste test them just to make sure they were as good as they looked.

I am pretty sure we will have a white Christmas.

All the deliveries were made and the last minute items picked up in town.

A puzzle was started, a place to gather and hunt and search…and sometimes double tapping when you get a piece in place.  Double tapping irritates some people.

Miney

Jen and Miney came to keep us company help us run errands and get organized before everyone else arrives. We had a busy day.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Friday Before Christmas

What a weather week…and it ain’t over yet.  Thursday we were at 31F or 0C…remember last Sunday it was –29F or –20C eh?  That is 60 degrees difference.  Today it is supposed to be warmer than 31F…we will see.  This warmer weather allowed me to wash the nose prints off the windows.

Odda came to visit Chance so we had double the nose prints.  She was lonely. She knows where we live and that we will call her Master to come and get her.

We had big fluffy snowflakes on Wednesday.

I had a nice walk outside with the dogs. It was quiet as the snow fell, the birds and squirrels were all hiding. 

We may have rain on Christmas Day and then snow. It may be a blizzard. We will see how it all pans out…pretty strange weather.  I should have my head examined…cause I just wish it would stay about zero to 10 above all winter.  The roads are a mess;  slippery, snow packed, melting, freezing.  It would be okay if you were the only idiot on the road…but there are lots of idiots that want to go faster into the ditches.

We still have 8 inches of snow at the snowstick.  Snow settles. I have more shoveling to do.  It is a part time job.

I have a few odds and ends to pick up in town and then I am done.  I have two packages to deliver and some freshly baked loaves of Pumpkin Bread.  I made some gluten free loaves, they taste ok but they look not so pretty. I had to fight to get them out of the pans!  They are for my Dad and my Aunt…both will undertand that I am not really a baker.  Come to think of it, I have had that problem before and I just used paper muffin cups…well it is too late for that now.  I will have to make a notation on my recipe.  I should have bought 3M stock years ago…with the amount of Post It notes I use.

Bread or Cake ?

The Class of 1968 has some real gems.  Ann is one…she  baked some Artisan Bread.  On Facebook I mentioned that she should open a bakery!  At the Class Reunion she sent a whole loaf of her bread home with Far Guy…oh my you have never tasted such a wonderful bread.

It was almost too pretty to slice…but we did!  It was AWESOME.

Far Guy must really learn how to bake.  It is a King Arthur Recipe.

He brought me home a piece of the Medicare Cake too.  Chocolate…it was  good but not near as good as the bread.  We scanned a Medicare card and then Far Guy took the scan into Paintbrush and changed some things around.  He printed it out and took it to the bakery in the grocery store…I believe they have a special frosting decorating machine that does photos or scans.

Far Guy took a photo…ignore the camera strap….he is still learning.

 

Yesterday Far Guy went to town to help decorate the class float for the parade.  It was hot.  Chance and I stayed home and worked on some projects.

One of the Class of 1968 banners.

I guess their class motto was “We are not flowers in a greenhouse, but Pine trees in a storm.”

I did not remember that …but if the Class President and the Homecoming Queen say so then it is so.  Their float had some falling over Christmas trees on a flat bed trailer and people in lawn chairs. (Probably so they won’t fall over and break a hip or something.)

My Class didn’t do anything for the parade.

Chance : Treats for me

The sickies felt good enough to make me some treats….well one just took photographs.

You mix it all up and turn it on high!

Plop it on a pan. Then roll it out with the pumpkin can and then cut it into squares…someone missed a bunch of photos.  Did you see that squirrel?

Then they are baked turning once and when the oven gets shut off the door is opened and they dry out.

Then they are put in a dog proof jar.  Many more were put in the freezer.  They have no preservatives so…so you know green fuzzy stuff can grow on them if they are in the jar for too long…that is where I come in…I make sure that doesn’t happen.

Want the recipe? So you can make your best friend one of the happiest dogs on earth?

Chance’s Favorite Dog Treats

One Can of Pumpkin ( Far Side likes Libby’s Pumpkin)

4 eggs

4 Tablespoons Dry Milk

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

5 Cups Brown Rice Flour

Mix well!  Roll onto cookie sheet 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. (Far Guy uses the pumpkin can.)  You can use fancy cookie cutter in the shape of a dog bone but Far Side just cuts them in squares leaving a bit of a space between them, sometimes she pricks them with a fork all fancy like.   Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, turn them over and bake for 20 more minutes.  Allow to dry some with the oven door open.  Store in Freezer.

We have tried lots of recipes for pumpkin treats…this is the best one we have found…I have taste tested them all.

Cookies

I am all set for the cookie exchange. In order to appear less “grinchy” I agreed to join in.   I have not participated in a cookie exchange in years…the memory of strange cookies, broken messy cookies and bad cooks had faded sufficiently. 

I decided to make Swedish Browns.  I needed eleven dozen so I doubled the recipe, and made two batches and had cookies left over which are now sitting in freezer bags inside an ice cream pail in the freezer. ( I hate broken cookies)

With enough butter and sugar anything tastes good.

Swedish Browns…a recipe from Mary (she was in the Wistful Wednesday Photo the other day.)

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon corn syrup

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons soda

1 egg yolk

2 cups flour ( heaping)

Mix well, roll into balls then dip them in sugar.  Bake 350 degrees for 5 to 8 minutes. They will practically melt in your mouth.

I searched and searched for appropriate packaging.  I was in the midst of looking for Christmas Tins in thrift stores when I happened by Ben Franklin where they had a sale on containers.  They are perfect…and at half price a bargain too.

My cookies are safely nestled inside Ziploc storage bags, safe from breakage.  A bakers dozen fit nicely in the containers.

I was tired after all that baking and settled down for a long winters nap..so not much else was accomplished

Gift count: ten bought and seven ordered.  Gifts wrapped: none.  Cookies made: Complete! Christmas letters: Complete!  Homemade ornaments: Complete!  Homemade gifts: Two complete and one in progress.  Decorations… the snow outside, a pine cone wreath, the Nativity and a flag outdoors. Oh and 1/3 of a Shiny Brite Tree!  12 days and counting.