I'm Back!~ Happy Fall! 2013

Well, it is sure nice to be back to writing on this blog! I have been gone for a long time, but I had actually been uninspired since we had to put our beloved Golden Retriever, Jake down in April. It was devastating to our family. He was such an integral part of our day to day life, life as we knew it to be was, well, not "over" but different. Our routines had changed and we had to figure out new ones. I didn't even do ANYTHING in my flower gardens this year because he always "helped" me with that. I would dig here and there, and he would wait patiently for me to hit a rock. I would throw the rock, and then of course, being a retriever, he would retrieve it. I ignored my gardens completely. They still did
their job, creating beautiful new blooms, but not to the extent they would have if I had given them some TLC. The other thing Jake and I would do together is lay in the grass and "talk." Of course, being the ever loyal dog he was, he would listen and listen and listen. He just wanted our time. Wanted to be with us. Many questions kept flooding my mind like "Did we spend enough time with Jake?" Looking back now, I see it wasn't something we had to monitor. He was ONE of us. He went with us everywhere, fishing, camping, pontooning, outside in the snow, guarded the chickens for us, everything. If we weren't at work, he was with us. We were a team. Even when we got our little Shih Tzu, Bella, he was of course a little jealous at first, thinking he was being "replaced," but the two quickly became the best of friends and he realized when we weren't home, he wasn't alone! He had a friend! And, oh man, they were two peas in a pod!
So after we had to put Jake down, everyone had quite a bit of readjusting and reflecting time. Even Bella. She was beside herself without her best friend. Some people might say, "oh my gosh, it's just a dog, but no, its not. Its a true family member that was lost.
It is still hard without our Jake. We go back and forth talking about getting another Golden, a friend for Bella, but it's still a little too soon, and we are loving spoiling our little Bella. She has literally been our saving grace, and I see why why was put into our lives! She is silly, crazy, and loving. She definitely has no interest in pleasing us, like Jake did, so we are continually laughing about how different she is, and how she keeps us on our toes! Even when calling her in from outside, she just stares at us like, "Um, hello, you can come and get me!" "I'm not listening to you because I'm a diva!" Animals are truly gifts and we have to treasure them while they are here because before you know it, they're gone. I mean, wow. My kids had never known life without Jake!  Here is a picture of the two amigo's, Jake and Bella doing their thing~<3

Bella and Jake

SO, I'm feeling a bit better, and the inspiration is again starting to flow.  Fall is one of my favorite times of the year and I'm always very busy acting like a squirrel and "gathering" all our food for the winter! This year we had a VERY plentiful apple crop!!

Yes, I canned the usual apple butter and sauce, but the absolute best thing I made with our apples was a tart. Here is the fantastic Recipe:

Rustic Caramel-Apple Crumble Tart

For the filling:

6 cups thinly sliced and peeled apples
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Crumble Topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the Pastry Dough:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

7 Tbsp cold butter, cut up
3-6 tbsp ice cold water


To Finish:

Egg wash (1 egg white + 1 tsp water whisked together

Caramel Sauce for the top

For the filling, place apples sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Toss until evenly coated. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the crumble topping, Mix together flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, salt and pecans. Stir in melted butter until evenly distributed. Set aside.

For the pastry dough, Combine flour, sugar and salt. Using your fingers, quickly break up the butter, tossing it in the flour mixture, until the butter is roughly the size of peas. Add water, 1 tbsp at a time, tossing together with a fork, until the dough sticks together to form a ball. (The amount of water needed depends on the humidity in your area. Just make sure it sticks together easily without being sticky to the touch.) Roll the dough onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, into a 14-inch circle. Transfer the parchment and dough onto a baking sheet.
 Pile the apple filling onto the center of the tart and spread out to within 2 inches of the edge. Fold up the edges to keep the filling snuggly inside. Brush the pastry with egg wash. Sprinkle crumble over the center of the tart, and don't be afraid to cover part of the pastry.
 Bake at 375 for 1 hour, or until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown. While still warm, drizzle with caramel sauce. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Makes 8 servings.

Caramel Apple Crumble Tart





I had a lot of great vegetables in my garden this year also. Some of the new things we planted this year were fingerling potatoes and Kaleidoscope carrots. Fingerling potatoes are very small potatoes that are great roasted, used in soups, stews, mashed, baked, really anything! They are SO expensive in the store, so I wanted to grow some, and my garden did not disappoint!  I grew purple and yellow fingerling's. 

Kaleidoscope carrots are beautiful! They are regular tasting carrots, but come in colors! I grew red, yellow, white, purple and of course the standard orange carrots. It was a blast to make dishes with these colored gems! They certainly were a conversation starter, that is for sure! I'm always on the look out for different and funky veggies to try and I like the challenge associated with growing new vegetables for our table.

In the fall, I make a lot of roasted vegetable dishes. Roasting vegetables brings out the sweetness, and there is really nothing better! One of my favorite vegetables I can't wait to have once fall comes is my buttercup squash! Most people like butternut squash, and I do too, but buttercup squash is in my opinion even sweeter than butternut. I grow as much of it as I can, to try and last the winter. Unfortunately, my family isn't as into squash as I am, so I try to make it in recipes I know they will like. This fall I made an absolutely WONDERFUL roasted vegetable lasagna. Roasted vegetables,   roasted buttercup squash,caramelized onions, sweet Italian sausage, three different cheeses, and a Parmesan beschamel sauce? Oh, it is divine! It is a little time consuming, but I assure you, it is WORTH IT! Here is the one fall recipe you have to try!

Roasted Buttercup Squash, Sauteed Spinach, and Caramelized Onion Lasagna (with roasted vegetables) and Bechamel Sauce


One small buttercup squash, peeled, and chopped into 1-inch cubes
1 lb ground sweet Italian sausage
2 carrots, chopped
2 onion, thinly sliced
Brussels sprouts, about 15 or so, cut in half
16 oz baby spinach, washed and dried
4 cloves garlic
1 lb lasagna strips, enough for 3 layers
12 oz Ricotta cheese
3 balls mozzarella cheese, or 2-3 cups shredded, whichever you would like (I used the ball)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Red pepper flakes
1/2 cup basil, julienned
olive oil
butter

For the Bechamel:

2 3/4 cups milk
several sprigs of parsley
1/4 tsp nutmeg
10 peppercorns
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
6 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425. Drizzle the buttercup squash, carrots, and Brussels sprouts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the squash for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the squash has good color and "crust" on the outside.
Meanwhile, over med. heat, saute the spinach in two tsp. of olive oil and add 2 minced cloves of garlic and a pinch of red chili pepper. Saute until spinach is totally wilted. Set aside on a paper towel to drain.
To caramelize the onions, melt 1 tbsp of butter and a tbsp of olive oil in a large pan over med. heat. Add the onions with a big pinch of salt and cook down for about 30-40 minutes ( be patient, it is worth it) until they look like this:

Halfway through add the remaining two cloves of minced garlic. Set aside. Boil the lasagna noodles until just al dente. Set aside in a bowl of cool water.

Slice the mozzarella into 8 slices per ball.

In a med. skillet, fry the Italian sausage. Set aside.

For the Bechamel:

Bring the milk and everything else except the butter, park, and flour to a simmer. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Stir until doughy and smelling a bit nutty (about one minute) Strain the milk about half cup at a time, whisking to incorporate with the butter and flour mix. It should be smooth and velvety, not chunky or too thick. If it is, just add some more milk to thin it out. Add the Parmesan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375

In a 13x9 place a layer of noodles, mix together the roasted squash, vegetables, Italian sausage, caramelized onions, and sauteed spinach in a bowl. Add a layer of this on noodles. Add mozzarella, and dot with the ricotta. Cover with 1/4 of the beschemel. Repeat 3 times. and finish with remaining bechamel and grated Parmesan. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Turn on the broiler and bake for another 5 minutes or until brown and crunchy on top. Allow to sit for about 10-15 minutes.  Enjoy!

I really hope you try this! It is really worth it and such a great Fall dish! :)

Roasted Buttercup Squash, Sauteed Spinach, and Caramelized Onion Lasagna

As a lot of you know, I finally got my dairy goats! After a TON of research ( I love doing research...) I decided on getting Dwarf Nigerian Dairy Goats. They are small, (about the size of a Retriever dog) very calm natured and give the sweetest milk. I talked for a long time with a friend, Shawn, who has Nigerian Dairy Goats. He answered a lot of questions I had.  After talking to him, I knew I was ready to take on the task.I had to talk my husband into ANOTHER crazy idea I had (goats, honey!) LOL!! Needless to say, I seriously had to state my case as to why we needed more mouths to feed. I didn't try to explain to him how much money we were going to make on the goods made from their milk. That is not why I wanted them. If I do decide to sell any goods made, it will simply be a bonus. I wanted them for the  satisfaction of again controlling in some small way what we consume. I also wanted them because I am a animal lover and love taking care of anything..people or animals! Luckily, Erik is also a sucker for any animal, so when I knew I pretty much had his approval, I could continue my research.

  I searched the Internet for Dwarf Nigerians for sale, and could not believe my luck when I found a breeder just 10 miles from my home! I immediately called the breeder, Debbie, and talked with her for over an hour! She was so informative and loved talking about her beloved goats. She said she had two does to sell, so the next day, Erik and I went to her farm. We simply could not get over the calm nature of these curious creatures. Erik was very surprised that they were SO calm and sweet. We stayed at Debbie's farm for over 2 hours. Debbie even had me milk one of her goats and bottle feed a couple of babies to make sure this was something I could do on a daily basis. I like the fact the Debbie wasn't just worried about "making a buck." She really cares about who buys her goats and wants the very best for them. Her goats are also "show quality" so they are the cream of the crop. That didn't really matter too much to me, as I won't be showing mine, but it certainly was a perk.

I knew when I saw Erik with Debbie's goats, he was hooked. Just before we left, Debbie showed us the two that she was selling, and Erik told Debbie we would take them. YES!!! 

So we named our two girls Sophie and Willow~ 

Willow on left. Sophie on the right. 

Sophie and Willow have been a joy to have in our lives. They seem to take me back to a simpler time. A time that I don't want to be forgotten. A time when our food wasn't just bought in the store, grown in another country. I want my kids to know a little of the world that used to be, when my Grandparents were alive and hard physical work reaped such rewards. And there are rewards~ I hope to make luxurious soap and great-tasting cheese with milk from Willow and Sophie! I have been waiting patiently for the time to get them bred, and this past Friday was the day for Sophie! Her boyfriend, Clark Gable came over and within minutes their love affair was over... but...Time will tell if our little Sophie will be a Mother in the Spring~ 

Here's to new beginnings...:)

Love to you all!

Kerry :)

P.S. I am trying a new Artisan bread recipe as I write this, I will let you know next time how it is!

Under Pressure...What am I going to make for dinner?

I'm not much of a meal planner. I tend to cook what I'm hungry for. Oh I do ask my family what they would like, but all I ever hear is, "I don't care, whatever you want." Ok... My friend Kim always had her meals planned in advance. We were neighbors when our kids were just toddlers and I spent a lot of time at her house since she ran a home daycare and I only worked a couple of days a week to stay home with my kids.
Kim would always have her meal plan up on her fridge, and she would stick to it faithfully every week. I admired her for that. I couldn't do that because "what if I wasn't hungry for such-and-such on such-and such a day?" But sometimes, even I don't know what I want, and whoops! Before you know it, the kids are home from school, and I have nothing. Nada. Zilch. Now what?
Well, thanks to my mom for her awesome gift giving, because Christmas 2011 she saved me with giving me a pressure cooker! It has truly been my lack of meal-planning lifesaver! I can make a stew, soup, roast, chicken, and ribs taste like I have been slaving all day! Pressure cooking seals in the moisture, so everything you make is fall-off-the-bone tender and tastes like you slow-cooked the goodness in all day long. It is, what I like to call...my Miracle Worker!
I highly recommend you get one if you don't have one. You can even throw in a frozen chicken, and in 45 minutes to one hour, you have the most tender, juicy chicken you can imagine.  The first recipe I tried in my pressure cooker, is a soup that I have made several times since. It is SO good, and tastes like you simmered it all day. This soup pressure cooks for...drumroll please......6 minutes! Yes, that's it! 6 minutes to the most flavorful soup you will ever have.

Chicken and Potato Gnocci Dumpling Soup

1/3 cup butter
1 lb of chicken tenders or breasts, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced small
16 oz  potato gnocci dumplings
4  cups Chicken broth ( I used 6 cups, to make more broth)

Here is a picture of my pressure cooker. This one is nice because it's digital, has a browning feature, and slow-cooking feature.

1. Heat butter in pressure cooker until melted.

2. Coat chicken cubes with flour, add chicken, onion, celery, and carrot to pressure cooker and saute' until lightly browned

Cover with remaining ingredients, lock pressure cooker.

Set pressure to high 15psi(pressure per square inch), and set timer for 6 minutes. When finished, let steam release gradually on it's own, or quick release it by turning the release valve. ( Be careful if doing this, as steam will shoot out from valve and could burn you if touched.)

When you remove the lid, be prepared for the best tasting soup ever...Seriously.It's.That.Good.

This recipe originally calls for adding heavy cream after pressure cooking to make it a creamy soup, but it is so good, you don't need it. But, it definitely could be added. Even if you don't have a pressure cooker, this is a great recipe. Try it! You'll like it...I promise! 

Another great recipe I like to make in this wonder machine is Braised Beef Short Ribs. In 30 minutes I have fall-off-the-bone tenderness in a packed-with-flavor braising sauce that goes perfect over a side of whipped potatoes! Oh the comfort of it all...in just a fraction of time!

Braised Beef Short Ribs

3-4 lbs Beef Short Ribs

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 cups beef broth

1/2-3/4 cup red wine

1-2 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. thyme

salt, pepper to taste

1.  Season the ribs with salt and pepper and brown in small abount of olive oil.  Brown well.

After browning, remove from pan, add a little more oil, and add aromatics. (garlic,onion, carrot, celery, and thyme) and saute' for a couple of minutes.

While this is sauteing, combine liquid ingredients together.

Pour the yummy braising liquid over the onions, carrots, etc. and stir to release the bits of goodness at the bottom of the pan..

Let simmer for a few minutes.

Add short ribs to pressure cooker, and pour braising liquid and veggies over ribs. Lock down the lid of the cooker, and set on high pressure 15psi for 30 minutes. Once pressure cooking is finished, allow pressure to release slowly automatically, or release yourself, again being careful to not touch steam.
When you lift the lid, you won't even believe how tender the meat is, and the wonderful aroma of the braising sauce.
Whip up some mashed potatoes, and you have a meal that should have cooked all day long, finished in 30 mintutes!!

Of course you don't need a pressure cooker to make this recipe, you could just as easily put it in the oven, for about 3 hours at 325, but who wants to do that when you can get the same results in less than half the time?? :)

With this meal, I made a simple wedge salad, with tomatoes and goat cheese and a homemade vinaigrette. My mother-in-law gave me some flavored balsamic vinegar's for Christmas this year and I'm having fun using them in different recipes. This dressing was made using Cranberry-Pear balsamic.

Simple salad, with a little unexpected punch!

Cranberry-Pear Balsamic Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar-I used Cranberry Pear

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Whisk or add to jar and shake to incorporate!

I hope I have inspired you this week to think about getting a pressure cooker! If you already have one I hope you will enjoy these flavorful recipes!

If you read my blog from last week, you will remember we have started a Gratitude jar in our house. We are writing something we are grateful for on a slip of paper, and putting it into the jar. When the jar is full, we will all sit down and read them. I have to say, it has been a hit at our house! The jar is getting filled up, and it looks like everyone has much to be grateful for..

  I will leave you with something that just makes me happy....my birds! My husband, Erik, bought me 2 new feeders for Christmas, and I love them, because they are so close to our window and no squirrel can get to them! It is simple joys in life like just watching the birds that can make my day a little brighter...

Here's to time-saving pressure cooking, great recipes, gratitude, and the simple joys...Hope you all have a great week and thanks again for reading and supporting me and my efforts...such as they are! lol! :)

~Kerry :)

New Year's Resolutions...Here We Go Again!

I try not to make any New Year's resolutions, as it seems to just put more stress on me, and I end up failing because my expectations of myself are too high. But this year, I decided to TRY and I stress the word TRY to set some reasonable goals:

1. To work out more.. Just do it! And I have an advantage that I work the night shift and can do this AT WORK! How many people can say that about their job?

2. Eat less sugar. Sugar is my downfall...Since I quit smoking 13 years ago, I always say I just quit smoking and started eating, but sweets seem to be my frenemy..

3. Cut down on my Diet Pepsi habit...this might take awhile, but I will TRY.

4. Get some good sleep...Since I now work nights, I don't get as much sleep as I should. I have to remember that I need 8 hours! I tend to want to stay up and do things when I should be sleeping..

5. Give up some of the housework to the kids... While my kids always have done some chores, I tend to do everything myself to just get it done, and spare the drama.  Now, if they want to use their ipad, watch tv, or go snowmobiling they have to do a chore first. They have been good about things so far, but how many days into the new year are we? Haha!

Those are just a small list of things I would like to accomplish this year. I have many more, but have to start with a few as I will get too overwhelmed..

One thing I  always try to keep up is organization. Keeping my house organized and clutter-free seems to keep my mind clutter-free also. I noticed my system for medicines in our house was not working. I had them in 3 canvas bins since I don't have a medicine chest. (Does anyone have one anymore?) When the kids would need a Band-Aid, or Tylenol, or anything, they would have to go searching through the bins. I thought I had things pretty much together as far as all the cough syrups together, first aid things near each other, etc. but I guess the kids didn't get that memo! I also noticed that everything in the linen closet pretty much looked like a bomb went off, so it was time to take some organizing action. Here is a "before" pic of the linen closet:

Upper level linen closet ~ what a mess!

Talk about a total mess! And I like to think I'm organized!!! Well, I did it though. Figured out a plan that would work so the kids wouldn't mess up the medicines, and hopefully not touch anything on any of the other shelves since they have their own linen closet near their own bathroom! Here is the result of the re-organized closet and medicine "chest."

Ahhhh....organized!

What I did was two things I saw on Pinterest, one of my favorite sites for hints and tips on organizing, recipes, decorating, wish lists, just about anything! The first was the medicine "chest" shelves. Each drawer is labeled with what it's contents are for, such as, First aid: Band-Aids, triple antibiotic cream, etc. Then one for stomach ailments I labeled "digestive" which the kids got a good laugh at. Aches/pains with Tylenol, Ibuprofen and such and so on.

Each drawer is labeled!

As I went through all the medicine bins, I noticed I had multiple things that I must have bought thinking I didn't have them because I couldn't "see them," so this will be a welcome change. One thing I found I had a lot of was Q-tips, and Cotton pads, so I put them in some really cool(Vintage item of the week alert!) vintage mason jars that my sister gave me for Christmas. I think they are perfect for holding these items!

Vintage mason jars hold Q-tips and other toiletry items

My other project, was the sheets, and duvets. Another tip I found on Pinterest was to fold up your sheets, put one of the pillow cases on top, and then put them into the other pillowcase. Then it's all one package, and very organized. I took it a little step further by adding a dryer sheet in each package to retain the fresh smell.

Sheets and duvets folded and put into pillow sheet or sham

I then organized the blankets and other things on each shelf. In the bins that I had the medicines in, I put miscellaneous items such as pet care items, hair and nail care, and so on and labeled each bin accordingly. It took a little time to go through everything, and label it all, but it is so worth it, and one thing I had been meaning to do checked off my list!
Another room that HAD to get re-organized was my pantry. Some of my readers will remember it from a picture I posted on Facebook this Fall, but since then, my family seems to think this room is the "junk" room where they can just put something they don't want to actually put away. It had to be addressed. So another organizing mission took place. This pantry is wonderful, and I recommend if you don't have one, make one. This room actually used to be our office, but I needed a pantry, so my husband Erik obliged..thankfully! It holds all of my canned goods that I canned over the Summer and Fall, any overstock items I may have, the kids snacks, and all of my kitchen appliances that I don't use on a daily basis. It is so worth not having to look for this or that. I know just where everything is..

re-organized pantry

shelves are perfect for kitchen appliances

I try to keep the kids snacks well-stocked

Off subject, but anyone else receive the "Soda Stream" for Christmas? My mom bought this for the kids and they love to make their own soda pop!

I had some peppers my in-laws gave to me before they headed to Florida for the winter that they knew they wouldn't use, so I decided to make stuffed peppers with them. This is usually something I make in the Fall, when my peppers are ready to harvest from our garden, but there were 6 beautiful colored peppers, so stuffed peppers it was. Here is my great recipe for them:

Stuffed Peppers
6 large green, or colored peppers
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef ( I used venison, since we have it this year!)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup celery
1/2 cup green pepper ( which seems redundant, but with the colored peppers, the green was really pretty.)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups cooked rice

Creole Sauce (to spoon over the peppers)
1 large can whole, stewed, or diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp salt, pepper
1 Tbsp sugar

You will also need:
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup water   (to make a slurry)

Cut the tops from the peppers, remove membranes and seeds. Chop onions, celery, and green pepper.

Cover peppers with boiling water in deep pot. Cook 10 minutes. Drain. Brown ground beef, onion, celery and green peppers in skillet. Add salt and pepper and rice.

Spoon mixture into peppers.

Place in baking dish. Combine ingredients for the Creole sauce into skillet, or saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Combine flour and water slurry and cook until mixture thickens.
Pour sauce over peppers. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover, and bake 15 minutes longer.
Enjoy!
My mom gave us some croissants from Europe for Christmas, and I made some to go with this meal. Oh  WOW they were divine! The butter from Europe is said to be the best around, and you could taste how wonderful it is in these croissants!

Another thing I was thinking about over Christmas is just how grateful are our children? I don't know how grateful for things kids can be these days when everything is handed to them, and believe me Erik and I are NO exception when it comes to giving our kids everything. But I want them to be grateful. I remember my mom telling me how grateful she was when she would receive an ORANGE in her Christmas stocking. An orange. WOW. We could never get away with giving something so simple to our kids in this world. It's keep up with this and keep up with that. Our kids so far have been very good kids, so we do reward them because of it. BUT I do want them to try to be grateful, so I started a Gratitude Jar. Each day, all of us will write on a piece of paper something they are grateful for and put it into the jar. Every month, or when it fills up, we will read each piece of paper. While it may not the answer to making our kids grateful, I hope it will make them think. At first, they laughed when I told them about it, but I told them it was a requirement. When I say something is a requirement, they know I mean business. I have even had "requirements" for certain movies, such as "The Rosa Parks Story" or when "Planet Earth" was on the Discovery channel every Sunday for about 6 weeks, it was one of my requirements. Things like this to make sure my kids know certain things about history, human empathy, or our world. Here are the kids writing something for our Gratitude Jar. I even got Ethan's friend Jake involved!

Hannah writes what she is grateful for today

Ethan putting his "grateful for" note in the jar

Ethan's friend Jake gets in the grateful spirit also!

Well, another week behind us. Another week to be grateful. I know I will be once the Packers beat the Vikings!!   :)  I hope you are inspired to get Energized, Organized, and be Grateful! Let's do this together!

With a grateful heart,
~Kerry

Happy New Year!!! ~ 2013!

Happy New Year! It's 2013! ~ Where did the last year take you? How are things different in your world now, than they were a year ago? Well, for me, as you know I have a new job! Other than that, still love being a mom, wife, chicken farmer, gardener, canner, and every thing else. Oh, except laundress. I don't like that job! lol!

With the weather being colder, it seems like all I make is soup, but I love soup! I made a great Venison-Vegetable soup the other night after everyone came in from snowmobiling...I just threw it together, So I hope you enjoy!

I started with 1 lb of venison and browned it.

Then added onion, carrots (still from my garden, folks!) and celery and added it to the pot with the venison.

I then added a jar of Stewed Tomatoes that I canned this fall. You could add a couple of cans of diced or stewed tomatoes, whichever you would like!

Next I added some beef broth, about 2 cups. and 2 cups of water. Make sure your beef broth is condensed. For extra flavor, I cheated and added some beefy-onion soup mix, as I wanted it to be extra "beefy" if you know what I mean!! haha.
Add a  little Worcestershire sauce, (a few drops will do) and really anything else you like in your soup! I added peas I had frozen from my garden, corn I had frozen, and some thyme and parsely! (Don't forget the salt and pepper!)

 

 

 

I baked a loaf of bread in my bread machine to go with it, and voila! Supper! How easy is that?

 

 

Venison-Vegetable soup with homemade bread

 

Merry Christmas~ 2012

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Is everyone in the Christmas spirit? I know I am! It has been awhile since my last post, but I got a new job! I am settled in to it now, and things are going great! Now I have more time to blog...:)

Speaking of Christmas and the Holidays...

Have you ever had lefse? Do you even know what Lefse is? If you don't know, or have never made it, you must not be Norwegian! Haha, but really, it is so good I think everyone should try it at least once, and if you like it...make it! Do it! Don't be afraid! But...what is it? Well, it is a Norwegian flat bread, or tortilla, made out of the most wonderful mashed potato mixture ever! Most people like to spread butter  and sprinkle sugar on it before rolling it up, but in my family we just spread butter and roll and eat. Sometimes we will add whatever meat we are having  for dinner and roll that in it too!  My mother has been making it for as long as I can remember, and my Grandmother and Great Grandmother made it also so it really has been passed down through the generations in my family. It was my in-laws though, who bought me all the tools one would need to make it, so I made my first batch of Lefse about 5 years ago, and have made it every year since! It's not that hard, and I will take you through making it step by step.. Here are the tools needed to make perfect lefse:

Griddle, Lefse Stick and Potato Ricer

Dough board and rolling pin with sock




The ingredients are: Potatoes! (not pictured) butter, Sugar, Salt, and Heavy Cream ( You will also later need flour)



Lefse

10 potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour

Cook the potatoes until tender,

 

And then run them through the potato ricer.




This is how your potatoes will look after going through the ricer...like "rice" or noodles!"



Beat butter, cream, sugar, and salt into hot, riced potatoes.


Adding cream, butter, salt and sugar to the riced potatoes.

Let cool in refrigerator. After cooling at least 6 hours (or overnight) you can add your flour to the mixture,

And work the flour in until it's incorporated nicely.

You are now ready to roll and fry your lefse. The first step is to take a golf-ball size piece of the lefse and pat it a bit. Then set it on your well-floured board and roll thin. Do not worry about it being a perfect circle. :) Carefully slide your lefse stick underneath the lefse and lift it off the board and roll it onto the griddle.

Now Fry your lefse on high heat for about 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. This doesn't take long! Once it starts to bubble up, lift a corner with your stick and check it. If it is starting to brown nicely, (you will see brown spots) flip the lefse over and fry the other side. Once done, lift lefse off the griddle and roll onto a tea towel and cover to keep moist.

Fry both sides until golden brown spots appear

 



Roll lefse on tea towel and cover to stay moist

And there you have it! Perfect lefse! I have to say I was scared to try this as my mom would have so much trouble every year with making it, due to sticking. The best piece of advice I can give you is to make sure your board is well-floured!! Add some to your rolling pin if need be also! I believe my Grandmother is with me every year I make it. It makes me feel good to know that I am doing something that has passed through the generations of my family! Now I just have to get my daughter (or son!) involved!

 

 

 We bought a real Christmas tree this year. We had a fake one that I actually really liked, but when I opened the bag this year to put it up I smelled something terrible! Yep, our cat peed on the tree. Bye bye tree! Ugh...So like I said we bought this year's tree, and I have to say I like this too! I have to remember that it's real and needs water, but I'm glad we went back to real. Here is a pic of our tree..

 I love ornaments for the story they tell. Every single ornament on our tree has meaning. Whether it's something the kids made, or something a family member or friend gave us, they all have a story...

The first ornament we ever bought...:)

This ornament is from one of our favorite places to get away...The Rittenhouse Inn
 




While we have some really beautiful ornaments, the ones made by the kids are my absolute favorite!

 

I have done very little baking this season. We just don't need all of the added calories. Well, maybe I mean I don't need them. Anyway, I did happen to make my famous Spritz cookies. They are actually not my recipe, but my Friend Kim's recipe. We were neighbors for years when our kids were little and one year she sent home with us a plate of these babies. Oh boy, they were the BEST Spritz cookies I had ever tasted! The best thing about these cookies is they only have 3 ingredients. THREE!! I couldn't believe it since I love long, drawn out recipes that take time and are a challenge. But these are simply the lightest, best-tasting Spritz I have ever eaten. Enjoy! 

 

Spritz Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 package (18.25 ounce) white cake mix
• 2 3/4 cup flour
• 1 pound (4 sticks) butter or margarine, divided

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt two sticks (1/2 pound) butter. Allow the remaining butter to reach room temperature and soften.
In a small bowl combine flour and melted butter. Mix well. You may wish to return this to the microwave so that this mixture is pour able. Pour melted butter mixture into the cake mix, and add remaining softened butter. Mix until all ingredients have been incorporated and this is smooth. If the dough is stiff knead on a cutting board until it has softened. Shape as desired, or put through a cookie press.Bake cookies for 7-9 minutes or until done.


Spritz

It has been quite the whirlwind for me the last month or so, but things are settling down, and with my new job I have more time at home! I even got my kids to take a couple pics for our Christmas card, and got all the presents wrapped. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your families and here's to an even better 2013! I'll leave you with a couple of pics of the season...enjoy!

 

 

 Merry Christmas to you all!

~Kerry