Lynelle's Butter Cream Icing

When Bill and I first got married and moved to Huntsville, AL, he went off to school/Army Basic Officers course every day and I sat at our little aartment and didn't have a lot going on, so... I singed up for a couple of classes.

One was a quilting class.  It was hand piecing quilting.  Ever since then, even though I know many people machine piece, in my head and heart somewhere I have to only do handpiecing, as it's nearly a lost art.  Now to say that, I have NEVER finished even ONE thing I started in that very first class back over 25 years ago now!!!  It's beautiful, but wow!  I need to just give in and so machine quilting if ever I might want a chance at finishing A project!

The other class I signed up for was a cake decorating class at Lynelle's Cakes and Decorating Supplies 3055 Leeman Ferry Rd SW Huntsville, AL 35801, United States‎
 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynelles-cake-decorating/277271099036328

If I remember correctly the class was about 8 weeks long and I had to bake a cake and bring it ready to decorate each week.  That is a LOT of cake for newlyweds... So I would have some of Bill's classmates over for dinner and desert.  most of the weeks had a theme and she showed us what to do as we learned skills.  I remember a couple of the cakes I learned to decorate.  Chantilly Lace - That one was one of my favorites.  We learned how to make flowers, and different things.  The last class was more just for fun, and we got to bring our already decorated cake (anything we wanted) to class to show.  We had friends of ours from Bill's West Point days that were down in S. AL going to flight training school, coming for the weekend.  I had a little fun with it, and iced the cake in light blue then decorated it with a helicopter and big white fluffy clouds.  I remember thinking it was cute.  I took pic's of all of my cakes, but alas, I don't know where to find them, and the one's at the end I THOUGHT I had taken pic's.  We also went to lookout mountain that weekend with our friends, and to some caverns, and all those pic's were NO point, because it turned out there was actually NO FILM in my camera!!!!!  Back in the olden days when you actually had to buy film and you didn't tend to just snap away at everything, since you didn't really know how good the pic was going to turn out (if it was blurry, etc.) until after you got it developed at the store once the whole roll of 26 pic's was all taken.  Anyway, I have thought over the years about how I was sad to have 'lost' those cake pic's (and the one's of our friends over the weekend).

Since that time I have made cakes mostly just out of LOVE for my own children.  I have been asked if I'd make them for other people, but the reality is that I have only ever made them for my own family, and for a couple of baby showers along the way that I was co-hosting. I will say that the first ever birthday cake I made for Rebekah was one that I had a recipe from a magazine for, and I don't know if I used Lynelle's butter cream icing or not.

Over the years, Rebekah has decided her favorite birthday treat/cake is actually a Chocolate Raspberry Torte. So not so much cake decorating went into that one.  And one year Hannah just wanted her cake to be the one from Chuck E. Cheese where we were having her party (at first I will admit I was almost a little hurt, but it turned out to be a blessing, since Bill ended up having to have surgery that morning to have a large kidney stone removed and then I went straight upstairs to a labor/birth that took 16 hours, so I would have had not time to finish a cake.  A good friend of ours from Bill's work came and picked Bill up from the hospital and took him in his drugged state to sit at the birthday party, and Rebekah was able to drive the rest of the kids to the birthday party!).  The only other cake I specifically remember being a store bought cake was for Liam's 2nd Birthday.  Again I was at a birth, and so a friend watched him during the day.  The sisters all wanted to celebrate his birthday ON his Birth DAY, so Bill stopped and got a store bought cake from the store on his way home after he picked him up after work.

In recent years with the popularity of fondant I have done more and more cakes with fondant (once I finally gave in and stopped resisting that and learned how to use it). Some people don't like fondant all that much, Marissa LOVES it! she specifically requests it on her cakes now.

One year for Liam's birthday, I had begun the process of making the various fondant decorations for Liam's birthday cake several days (a week or so) in advance. I had baked the cake the day of all the crazy Tornado's (on April 27th 2011) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_25%E2%80%9328,_2011_tornado_outbreak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNTCFN7yfgQ
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndh-sBuEnKw    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyd_B2mEcFY   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xSp33GTxs4   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwfD1hRZ1Qw   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM7FD_9XEj8  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIFFBQykxsc   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unz6Cz2sFPI

It's Thanksgiving time again... and Traditions abound

I love Thanksgiving dinner!  My family loves Thanksgiving dinner. We generally have Thanksgiving dinner, Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, the whole works, a couple of times a year.

Several years ago when Rebekah was going to College in Niagra New York, we took the opportunity to go to NY and spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with my cousin Robyn Sherwood Drey at their home near Palmyra.  My other cousin Mini Sherwood Packer and her family would come over from Kirtland, Ohio as well.  It was great fun spending time with family and Robyn LOVES to cook and makes the most wonderful food!

My cousin's lived in the Islands for many years - Samoa and Hawaii, and they make some delicious island foods that they have incorporated into their Thanksgiving meals. Along with that, with Rebekah having lactose issues, Robyn spent time during the year Rebekah was there coming up with recipes and substitutions to help her and it was rolled into things like Coconut milk in the pumpkin pie and a sweet potato souffle with Coconut milk.  http://www.sherwoodohana.com/SweetPotato.html
What yummy treats! Along with those Robyn's husband Mark makes kalua pig (in a crockpot or on the grill overnight, not a whole roasted pig in the ground, but it's pretty darn close!). http://www.sherwoodohana.com/Kalua%20Pig.html

He also makes pans and pans of pot stickers, or gyoza as my kids know them. There is baked taro in coconut milk - very tasty, and I've been trying to figure out if there is somewhere local I could find some taro...http://www.sherwoodohana.com/taro.html  we make a pan or two of Pani Popo, which are rolls in sweetened coconut milk.  http://www.sherwoodohana.com/RobynsPanipopo.html

Pani Popo
1 can coconut milk (pe'epe'e) 1 pkg. frozen bread rolls (Rhodes brand is good) ½ C. Sugar (or more to taste) Spray baking pan (lasagna pans work well for this) with Pam. Place frozen rolls 2 inches apart and let rise. It will take 3-4 hours for the rolls to rise. 30 minutes before baking, rolls will have risen and you can pour pe'epe'e over rolls, it will seep through the pukas between the rolls and pool under the rolls. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes. Take out and let cool before eating.

Along with those foods and many more, are many of the traditional thanksgiving foods. We spend two or three days cooking morning till night.  We all loved helping make all the fun food, and of course eating it for days afterward as well!

Along the years I have picked up a few recipes that are must haves during thanksgiving for our family.  The first one came along when we lived in Germany. Bill was deployed to Saudi Arabia, and I spent Christmas week with a good friend of ours.  While I was there (a couple of hours away from where I lived), we made a thanksgiving Christmas meal for some of his soldiers.  He had some foods that were 'must haves' from his childhood and called his mom in the states to get a recipe that he tells me all these years later written on the napkin or envelope that he wrote it on that day.  I have had to call him or write him a time or two over the years to get the recipe again, when my stuff was in storage, or we were on vacation over the holidays... It has become a must have for Bill and I as well.  Last year I found it on cooks.com and had it bookmarked in a recipe file.  I'm sure glad, since today I couldn't find it online anywhere, then thought to look under the recipe tab of book marks, and I had saved it, yay!

CRANBERRY JELLO SALAD WITH TOPPING

1 (13 oz.) can crushed pineapple 2 (3 oz.) pkg. lemon Jello 1 (7 oz.) bottle ginger ale 1 (1 lb.) can jellied cranberry sauce 2 oz. pkg. Dream Whip 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened 1/2 c. chopped nuts Drain pineapple, reserve syrup and add water to make 1 cup. Heat liquid to boiling and add Jello to dissolve. Gently stir in ginger ale. Chill to partially set.Blend cranberry sauce and crushed pineapple and fold into Jello mixture. Pour into 9x9 inch pan and refrigerate to set. Prepare topping, fold in softened cream cheese. Toast nuts in 1 teaspoon butter for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Spread topping over set Jello, then sprinkle nuts over top.

Another must have for our Thanksgiving table is a sweet potato casserole.  When I was growing up we had sweet potatoes straight out of the can poured into a pan topped with marshmallows and cooked. That was it. I hated them!  Sometime along the way I someone made this delicious sweet potato casserole.  It was a hit!  I was a fan!  (I have made it pretty much every time we've had turkey for more than 20 years.  I don't honestly even use a recipe anymore, and don't know where it is at.) I may not know exact amounts, but it isn't rocket science... I use more if I'm making it for a bigger crowd, a bit less if it's just a small family affair.

Sweet Potato Casserole

2 lg cans of sweet potatoes (or more)

1 can crushed pineapple (I think the original recipe calls for a small can) drained

1/2 - 1 Cup of chopped pecans

1/4 C melted butter

1/4 C brown sugar

Mini Marshmallows.

Mash drained sweet potatoes. Add  melted butter and brown sugar and mix. Mix in crushed pineapple and pecans. put in a casserole dish. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes  Top with mini marshmallows. Bake for abt. 10 minutes or until top is lightly browned. 

Well, there you have it. Our family's favorite Thanksgiving recipes.  We had a pumpkin desert pie That Rebekah got from a classmate at a class party in kindergarten.  We generally don't love regular pumpkin pie all that much, so I don't make it. We did make this desert pie for quite a few years also.  

Bill also makes apple pie. We call it a frumpy apple pie as it is stuffed to the gills! (we got that idea from eating at Robyn's years ago when we lived at Ft. Irwin Calif and we would drive down to Robyn's house when the kids were small.  Robyn made an apple pie that was over stuffed and I believe she called it a Fred pie, since it reminded her of someone their family used to know named Fred who had a bald bumpy head and the pie reminded her of that. ;)  

We aren't big fans of the 'traditional' green bean casserole, so we just have regular green beans, and as a kid growing up my mom always served creamed corn.  I didn't like gravy when I was young, and I used to use the creamed corn like gravy on top of my mashed potatoes.

I also remember my mom serving black olives and small pickles (sweet gherkins I think). Sometimes I remember this little thing and want to add this to my thanksgiving dinner as well for the sake of tradition

Patio Potato Salad

This Recipe is from Taste of Home
     But the recipe was passed to us by our friend Jennifer Derby.

  It is Delish!!!!!

A sweet and creamy cooked dressing lends old-fashioned goodness to this side dish that goes well with any entree. Since the flavors need time to blend, this is a nice make-ahead salad for family barbecues, potlucks and picnice. -Romaine Wetzel, Ronks, Pennsylvnia

8-10 ServingsPrep: 30 min. + chilling

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons ground mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup Hellmann's® Real Mayonnaise
• 7 medium red potatoes, cubed and cooked
• 3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
• Lettuce leaves and paprika, optional

Directions

• In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, mustard, salt and celery
• seed. Stir in the milk, vinegar and egg until smooth. Add butter.
• Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and
• bubbly. Cool. Stir in onion and mayonnaise. In a large bowl, combine
• potatoes and hard-cooked eggs. Add dressing and toss gently to coat.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. If desired, serve in a
• lettuce-lined bowl and sprinkle with paprika. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Crockpot Garlic Rosemary Chicken

Crockpot Garlic-Rosemary Chicken
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 6:44pm
A nice recipe originally from Weight WatchersIngredients1 (5 lb) roasting chicken2 (5 inch) fresh rosemary sprigs2 celery stalks, each cut into 4 pieces2 small onions, quartered16 garlic cloves1 Tbsp. lemon juice1/2 tsp. salt (I prefer garlic salt)1/2 tsp. black pepper1/2 tsp. paprikaDirectionsRemove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Rinse chicken under cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat and remove skin. [In addition to the spices listed above, I liberally apply garlic salt and black pepper in the cavity of the chicken at this point.] Place rosemary sprigs, celery, 4 onion wedges, and 4 garlic cloves in cavity of chicken, and tie legs together with twine. Place chicken, breast side up, in crockpot, then add remaining onion and garlic. Drizzle lemon juice over chicken, then sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and paprika. Cover with lid and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce to low heat and cook 6 hours or until chicken is tender. Discard rosemary. Serve chicken with vegetables and garlic.
Chloe Raum
For Chicken Breasts: rub the lemon juice on both sides, salt/pepper as you like and then throw it all in the crockpot. You might need to check on it and add a little more moisture if it seems dry while cooking. (For Rebekah)

Adding to another suggestion of putting fresh rosemary under the skin, since its going in the crockpot it wont dry so i actually use a knife and pierce small slit on the chicken along the breast and thighs and insert crushed cloves of garlic in the holes along with the rosemary. its good on a roast too if you cover it with foil and then darken under a broiler for 12-15 mins.

It's true that if you leave all the skin on, you can make the slits and insert all sorts of succulent flavors and that would retain even more moisture. But I was happy that even with most of the skin removed, the whole chicken was still swimming in juice according to the original recipe. But if using just chicken breasts, that's when I think it might get too dry and need some extra liquids. CR

Patio Potato Salad - Jennifer Derby

1/3 C sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1 - 1 1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Celery Seed
1/2 C milk
1/4 C vinegar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 C butter or margerine, cubed
1/4 C onion, Finely chopped
1/4 C Mayonnaise
7 med/lg red potatoes, cooked, cubed
3 hard boiled eggs, finely chopped
Lettuce leaves and paprika,, optional

Boil potatoes, with skin on, (Boil them WHOLE) then chill in fridge for several hours - or over night. the potatoes are very easy to cut into cubes when cold.

Dressing:
In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, mustard, salt and celery seed.
Stir in the milk, vinegar, and egg until smooth. Add Butter. Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Cool. Stir in onion and mayonnaise.

In large bowl, combine potatoes and hard cooked eggs. Add dressing and toss gently to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
If desired, serve in lettuce-lined bowl, and sprinkle with Paprika.

yield: 8-10 servings.

Party Punch - Tandy Stephens

This is a yummy punch, fun for party's, baby showers, etc.

Ingredients:
2 C. Sugar
6 C. Water
2 10 oz pkg's frozen sliced strawberries, sweetened, Thawed
1/2 c. lemon juice
4 c. canned pineapple juice (we generally just use the whole big can)
2 1/2 c. Orange Juice.

2 liters of Sprite, or other lemon lime soda.

Add sugar to warm water, to melt. Mix in fruit and juice.
Freeze in cute ring mold, or a bundt pan will work. Freeze the extra in a bowl or freezer zip lock bag.

To Serve: set the bowl or bag of juice mixture out for a while before you are ready to serve so it will thaw a little bit and make a nice slushy mixture. Loosen the fruit juice ring from the mold/bundt pan, and put in a puch bowl. Pour lemon lime soda over it. (add more fruit juice slush, and soda to stretch the punch).

Black Bean Casserole - Chloe/Shannon

Black Bean Casserole

A vegetarian main dish adapted from Shannon Burdeshaw
Ingredients:
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup salsafresh cilantro, chopped
green onions, chopped
1 can corn, drained
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
3/4 cup corn meal
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine beans, salsa, cilantro, green onions, and corn.
Season to taste with Mexican seasonings of your choice (maybe cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt, etc). Spread into the bottom of a 9"x13" dish. Layer shredded cheese on top.
In another bowl, mix remaining ingredients to form a cornbread topping. Spread cornbread mixture over bean mixture and smooth.
Bake until brown on top ... approx. 20 minutes.
Notes:
Feel free to serve with your favorite condiments ... more salsa, sour cream, or guacamole. You'll notice that the quantities in this recipe are not precise. :-) Sorry about that. This is one of those "kitchen sink" recipes where you just throw in whatever ingredients you have and it will turn out just fine, yet subtly different each time. I don't think I actually measured anything when I made it. I prefer to use dried black beans and properly soak and cook them first. I opted to use a Bob's Red Mill Cornbread mix (instead of doing that part from scratch) and baked it according to the package directions. The amount of cornbread (intended for a 8"x8" pan) seemed a bit too thick compared to the depth of the bean mixture. So if I go that route again, I will probably double the bean mixture ingredients and make two casseroles at the same time, and put half of the cornbread mixture on each.
Shannon says this casserole freezes well!

Peach Cobbler from Chloe Raum

Peach Cobbler
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Today at 12:59am
This is for Auntie Debbie, from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sally Fallon.
Ingredients
grated rind of 1 lemon (or lime)
juice of 1-2 lemons (or limes)
8 ripe peaches
1 Tbsp. arrowroot (powdered)
2 Tbsp. rapadura (organic cane sugar)
3/4 cup crispy almonds*
3/4 cup arrowroot or bulgur flour
6 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/4 cup rapadura (organic cane sugar)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
DirectionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grate lemon rind and set aside in small bowl. Juice lemons and place in 2 qt mixing bowl. Peel skin and remove pits from peaches, cutting into bite-sized slices. Toss with lemon juice as you cut the peaches. Mix lemon rind, arrowroot, and rapadura together and then toss in with the peaches.
Spread peach mixture into a buttered 9"x13" pan.
Place almonds in food processor and process to a powder. Add arrowroot and pulse to mix. Add butter (cut into small pats), rapadura, sea salt, and vanilla; process until smooth. Crumble this mixture on top of the peaches.
Bake for 1 hour.
Serve with whipped sweet cream or vanilla ice cream.

This Tomato Zucchini Recipe sounded so yummy and the picture was pretty!!! I had to post it!

http://morganmoore.typepad.com/one_more_moore/2009/05/tomato-zucchini-pasta.html

Tomato & Zucchini Pasta

{I know it's not technically Summer, but doesn't the warm weather feel wonderful? My friend Michelle had us over for lunch today and made the most amazing pasta dish, I had to beg her to share and she obliged (I did ask, right Michelle?) } I borrowed this right off her blog. I loved her pictures of the fresh vegi's! YUMMMY!!!

The only thing I'd change is I wouldtry to figure out how much 'a few good shakes of dried herbs' equal out to of fresh herbs from my garden. ;-)

Ingredients:

3 medium zucchini, sliced into rounds & cut in 1/2

1 to 1 1/2 lbs Sweet Grape/cherub tomatoes

1-2 heads of peeled garlic, left whole

A few good shakes of dried parsley

A few good shakes of dried oregano

A few good shakes of dried onion

Dash of Salt & Pepper

1 pkg sun dried tomato chicken sausage*

1 lb linguine

Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Slice sausage into rounds and cook. Set aside.

Combine zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, oregano, onion, salt & pepper in a glass 9x13 dish (see above picture).

Add Olive Oil and toss to coat.

Bake in oven for approx. 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes just start to pop.

Meanwhile, boil water & cook pasta according to package directions.

Combine tomato & zucchini mixture & add to pasta.

Top with parmesan cheese.

Michelle says this is also really good with spinach, too. *Sausage is optional. If you want to cook vegetarian, just omit.
It was so delicious. We'll come over for lunch anytime. Thanks again!
May 21, 2009 Permalink

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On with the Garden Vegitables!!! Zucchine Galore!!!

http://www.ljcfyi.com/ljcsProjects/cooking/zucchini_recipes.html

Above is the link to a whole bunch of Zucchine Recipes. I have harvested my first two Zucchine in the past two days... I'm sure that I'm in for a WHOLE lot more! So I spent some time looking for Zucchine recipes today. I ran across this site. She has too many recipes to try and pick just one.

I think I have 4 or more Zucchine plants producing. I'll be over run in no time. Yummy! Of course my kids think they don't like it, so it is up to Bill and I to eat most of it. I need some variety. This looks good.

I also found a zucchine olive oil cake recipe that looks quite tasty on another site... I posdted the link to the side, as she had lots of tasty looking snacks and treats on her site.

One more Moore, also had a really nice zucchine recipe posted (and she appeared to have lots of tasty recipes), so I put her on the list of links on the side bar as well.

This one I just decided to post, as it was short:
Pasta with Zucchini-Tomato Sauce
Ingredients: pasta, salt, 200 grams diced bacon, 1 onion, 1 garlic clove, 1 zucchini, 1 tin diced tomatoes, grated cheese,
Number of persons: 2
Boil the pasta al dente in boiling water with a little salt is crisp. Bake in a hot wok 200 gram diced bacon with 1 chopped onion and 1 finely chopped garlic clove until the bacon is crisp. Add 1 diced zucchini and stir fry a few minutes. Add 1 tin diced tomatoes, bring to taste with salt and let it simmer another 5 minutes. Serve with the pasta and sprinkle some grated cheese over it. Enjoy!
Pasta bacon, cheese, garlic, onion, tomato, zucchini
source: http://www.brutsellog.com/2009/04/06/pasta-with-zucchini-tomato-sauce/

Whole Wheat Sandwhich Bread from: Chloe

Here's the recipe for the long loaf pan.
Chloe :-)
Bread RecipeYield: 1 very long loaf pan, 16"x4"x4"

2 1/3 c. warm water
4 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
4 1/2 tsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. honey
3 Tbsp. flax seed meal
2 1/4 tsp. sea salt
5 - 5 1/2 c. bread flour, from hard wheat
Palm shortening, to grease pan

To make by hand:Combine ingredients in order listed with wire whisk. Measure oil into small glass measuring cup, then measure honey in same cup. The oil helps you get all the honey out. Switch to a large spoon after you add the third cup of flour. Knead by hand and add flour as needed to keep from sticking to your hands. Try to knead for 8-10 minutes. Allow to rise for the first time until doubled (usually takes at least 35 minutes). Punch down dough. If using the smaller pans, cut in half or thirds using a table knife. Dust each half lightly with flour and roll out jelly-roll style on counter with rolling pin (to remove final air pockets). Roll up ending with seam on bottom; tuck ends under loaf and place in a greased pan. Cover with a damp paper towel and allow to rise for the second time.
Heat oven to 350 degrees near end of second rise .
Remove paper towel and bake loaf in oven for 40-45 minutes.
Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

To make by stand mixer (mine is KitchenAid 6 qt):Heat water to 105-110 deg F. Combine water, yeast, oil, honey, flax seed meal in mixer fitted with flat paddle. Mix on lowest setting until combined. Add 1 cup of flour, then the salt, then additional flour one cup at a time. When dough balls up on paddle, switch to using an oiled dough hook (mix on speed 2). Continue adding flour one cup at time. After adding the fifth cup of flour, I knead in machine for 8 minutes. I only use the extra flour if dough is especially sticky.(If the dough is too dry, it doesn't knead as well.) Place dough in oiled bowl and knead by hand a few times to form into a smooth ball. Cover and allow to rise for the first time until doubled (about 35 minutes). Punch down dough. Dust lightly with flour and roll out jelly-roll style on counter with rolling pin (to remove final air pockets). Roll up ending with seam on bottom; tuck ends under loaf and place in a greased pan. Cover with a damp paper towel and allow to rise for the second time (30+ minutes). Heat oven to 350 degrees near end of second rise. Remove paper towel and bake loaf in oven for 40-45 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Baking Notes ...
About the flour ... If it is flour that is marketed "better for bread" then it is higher gluten and would be suitable. I have baked many a loaf out of the good ol' Gold Medal Whole Wheat Bread Flour that is available most places. All-purpose flour, or pastry flour, are codewords for "soft" wheat ... not high gluten and not as good for bread. At our local health food store, they sell already-ground whole wheat bread flour. You could always pickup a small bag to try. I have never tried making bread out of all-purpose flour. You can always give it a try and just see what happens. Worst case would be that it wouldn't have enough gluten to develop and become elastic allowing the bread to rise well. You might end up with dense, crumbly bread.
This website has a brief discussion of the differences. I buy the Prairie Gold Wheat Berries from Wheat Montana for my hard wheat. It is a "white" wheat ... lighter in color than the Hard Red Winter Wheat. I used to use the red wheat, and it has a very dark color when baked. However, rumor has it that the white wheat has a lighter texture and rises higher so I tried it and have enjoyed it better. The lighter color seems more aesthetically pleasing to the less-crunchy crowd.I buy the Soft White Wheat for my all-purpose flour.
In the past I have enjoyed the Spelt Berries (that's an ancient "hard" wheat variation) and it is supposed to be easier to digest that the modern varieties of hard wheat. It has a wonderful "nutty" smell/flavor and I loved the spelt bread that I made using the same recipe. I bought some Kamut, another "hard" grain but haven't gotten around to playing with it yet. It's hard to justify the higher prices unless you have digestive issues and are forced to look for alternatives to normal wheat.

Cheese sticks

Thanks J for posting this yummy looking recipe.

http://comeandpeek.blogspot.com/2009/01/cheddar-snack-sticks.html

This next recipe is one that I like to serve with soup for something a little different. Really they are good with just about any meal or as a snack. They are very easy to make. If you like the Cheez-its crackers, you might really enjoy these because they contain PLENTY of sharp cheddar cheese. They have a great chewy texture too:Sharp Cheddar Snack Sticks1/2 c. butter, softened1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese1 t. salt1 t. garlic powdersquirt of Worchestershire saucecoarse salt/sea saltIn a food processor (you could use a mixer if you don't a processor) cream the butter. To this, add the cheddar cheese and pulse until it forms a thick paste. Add a splash of Worchestershire sauce, t. salt, and garlic powder. Slowly add the flour and pulse until the mixture is a play-dough consistency:On a floured surface, roll the dough into a ball. Roll out the dough until it's even and about 1/2" thick. It's up to you as to which shape you would like the sticks:Rectangles, good for dipping. A pizza cutter works well for this.Or you can do long, thin sticks (cut in half or they will break)A biscuit cutter for roundsLine a sheet with foil and spray with Pam. Lay out the dough shapes, about an inch apart. Sprinkle them with the coarse salt and any herb/spice mixture you prefer (more garlic is good also). Softly pat the tops with the palm of your hand to push in the spices:Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until they are very light golden brown. Bake longer for a crispier snack and shorter for a chewier snack. Remove and cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before eating. Store in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
What have the temps been in your part of the world?

Cakes 2008

Rebekah had a casual hang out/get together for her birthday. We just made a cupcake tower and had a bunch of munchies. I never did get around to making her traditional, yummy Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Torte... Sorry! I owe you.

in March for Amanda's birthday we didn't do anything more than make a big pan of brownies for her 'cake' not up to our usual standards, but... it's really all she wanted.

In April, I was planning to make Liam a Train cake for his 2nd Birthday. As it turned out, I was at a birth, and dad bought a cake for him from the grocery store. He bought a Thomas The Train Engine cake, without me even telling him I'd wanted to do a train cake. I did make it home for dinner and birthday cake. In May Sariah turned 12. She had a sleepover but no theme, so we just did birthday presents.

In Sept. Marissa turned 8. She wanted a sleepover party cake. So that's what she got.

We had several friends with Birthdays a day apart, that all turned 8 yrs old this year. The one friend has a sister with the same birthday, and we had a little joint party. I made more birthday present cakes.
For Hannah's 10th birthday, she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. She also asked for their cake. (I tried to not take that personally). As it turned out, Bill ended up having surgery to remove his Kidney stone that day and I followed that up with a mom in labor... so we had a friend help us out and drive Bill to the Party and help supervise the Party. thank goodness for good freinds. Thanks, S! And also... it was a blessing that Hannah had a birthday somewhere we didnt' have to clean the house up for or make a cake for... Thank you Hannah!
I made less cakes for birthdays this year than I ever have before (at least for the past 8-10 years)!

Dana's Mom's Fruit salad - yummy

Sandra (my mom)'s Fruit Salad

1 can peach pie filling
1 can mandarin oranges (size depends on how many oranges you like)
1 can pineapple tidbits
1 container frozen sliced strawberries (larger size is better)
2-3 bananas
(I usually add an extra Dole Natural Peach Slices to the mix)
optional: apple slices, kiwi, grapes, raspberries, you get the idea

Thaw the strawberries, but keep the juice. Drain the oranges and pineapples. Slice your bananas. Then just mix it all together in a big bowl...and there you have it.
I usually refrigerate mine for at least an hour before serving.This fruit salad is always a hit and it is super easy.It is also great for a food storage recipe since most is canned.

Pumkin Pie

Thank you Paula Dean for this yummy creamy pumpkin pie recipe.

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
1 piece pre-made pie dough
Whipped cream, for topping

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.
For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.
Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

Rebekah made it in individual little pie shells. They were very yummy!!!

Pumpkin Cake Roll

Pumpkin Cake Roll

3 eggs 2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Cup Sugar 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2/3 Cup Pumpkin ½ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. lemon juice ½ tsp. salt
¾ Cup Flour 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts)
1 tsp. baking powder

Beat on high speed for 5 minutes – the 3 eggs.
Gradually beat in sugar, stir in pumpkin & lemon juice.
Stir together, then fold in dry ingredients.
Spread in greased and floured 15x10x1” Jelly roll pan.
Top with chopped nuts.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Turn our on a dishtowel sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Starting at narrow end, roll towel and cake together. Cool. Unroll. Add Filling.

Filling:
Cream Cheese Frosting

1 Cup Powdered Sugar 1 8oz pkg. Cream cheese, softened
4 TBSP butter or marg, softened 1 tsp. vanilla
Combine and beat till smooth.
Spread cream cheese icing over cake roll. Roll back up without the towel.
Chill in the refrigerator until set.
Slice and serve.

Libby's Great PUMPKIN COOKIE

Libby’s Great Pumpkin Cookie

4 Cups Flour 2 Cups oats
2 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt 1 ½ Cup butter/marg softened
2 Cups packed Brown Sugar 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg 1 tsp. vanilla
1 Can (16 oz) Libby’s Solid pack Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 – 2 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine Flour, oats, soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
Cream butter; gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla to sugar mixture; mix well.
Add – alternating dry ingredients and pumpkin; mixing well after each addition.
Stir in Chocolate Chips.

Scoop dough onto cookie sheets

Bake 350 for 15 – 25 minutes (depending on what size cookies you make)
Until cookies are firm and lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire racks.

Variation; add 1 cup raisins instead of Choc. Chips.
Cookies can be shaped into pumpkin shaped cookies and decorated as jack-0-latern cookies, using icing, candies, raisins or nuts.

Cakes... 2007

I was looking through pictures from the past year for another post, and decided I wanted to put pic's of cakes I've made all in one place... so here are the cakes from the past year. To start with in February: We had Rebekah who turned 16 and since she got her Drivers License that morning, I decided to do the Drivers License cake... It's not every day you can do that cake for someone... :-)

Next in March was Amanda's Birthday... we saw this yummy cake on the Take Home Chef t.v. show, and so I made that, it was Yummy! I think it had like a brownie bottom and white chocolate mouse type top with the Fresh strawberries. Then she just had this little cupcake tower for her birthday cake for her party, since she didn't really have a theme or anything.

On April 1st we had the Elders over for dinner. The kids wanted to do a big April Fools meal, so we looked on line and found some fun idea's and expanded on what we did a few years back to another set of missionaries. We told them since Liam's Birthday was in April we were celebrating it... We had Mini Hamburgers (nilla wafer buns covered with sesame seeds that stayed in place with a light spread of Apricot jelly. They were filled with peppermint pattie burgers, green coconut lettuce, and red and yellow icing for ketchup and mustard). The grilled cheese's were angle food slices grilled and orange icing/cheese. The little chicken pot pie's had vanilla pudding and dried apples for the chicken, and we made peas and carrots out of starburst candies. The nuggets, were actually banana's rolled in peanut butter then graham cracker crumbs. And for the cake... Meat Loaf iced with mashed potatoes and decorated with ketchup.

Then For Liam's actual birthday the end of April he got a cake with cars. He loved all the little cars that he got to keep off the top of it! Better than the actual cake!

Sariahs' birthday came next in May, and her favorite colors these days are yellow and purple so we did that, and then her cake for her birthday party was a sleepover cake for the occasion.

We have a break from birthdays over the summer and in Sept. Marissa wanted a make up/make over birthday party.

For Hannah's birthday in Dec

we went to this party place called Off the Walls.

Later in the month Sariah made me a yummy home made lemon cake with a lemon glaze. Liam got to it before we did so it's missing a piece. ;-) and then she made dad a cake for the big '40'.

5 Cup Salad or Ambrosia Salad

5 Cup/Ambrosia Salad

1 can Pineapple Chunks, drained
1 can Mandarin orange segments, drained
1 cup Sour Cream
1 cup Coconut
1 cup mini marshmallows

Mix all together in bowl. Chill and serve.

I like this recipe because I usually have all the ingredients on hand so if I need to make something at the last minute... There you go, Yummy Fruit Salad!

My mom used to make this all the time, so for me it's a little bit of a memory as well...

Russian Refresher Mix

2 Cups powdered oange drink mix (tang)
1 (3 oz)PKG presweetened powdered lemonade mix
1 Cup Sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Put in air tight containers. Label.
Makes abt. 3 1/2 cups mix.

To make Drink:
Add 2-3 tsp. mix to 1 C of hot water.
Stir.