From my Cooking Notes:

I made chicken and dumplings!
I’ve made these before but had forgotten .
I made two pots!

I just made up a biscuit mix while the two pots of chicken broth (made on a previous day with cooking water from simmering chickens) reached a boiling point.
Stirred into the biscuit mix was shredded sharp cheddar and parsley!
I rolled out the biscuit dough as in between thick and thin as I could manage and slid each dumpling … one at a time into the boiling broth. I made sure to not overcrowd and let them simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
One pot, I whisked flour in after reading in an older cookbook to do that and people seemed more enamored with that batch. Two families loved these!

Thursday Night Dinner 10.02.08

I’m sharing the dinner I had planned for last night. We got a last minute invite to walk through the foot beaten pathway to Granna’s. She had her little grill smoking with some hamburgers on the back deck and even if we could have resisted those… the smores to follow sealed the deal;)

Last night’s dinner plans carried over into this evening’s and they were a big hit for two families! Our oldest son, his wife and our two grand littles sat around the table with us. Pops played outside with bit one and bit two while we had micro bit crawling all over the floor inside.
After eating, we talked and looked over some things online before watching the Biden/Palin debate. Isn’t everything more pleasant when shared with loved ones?

Here was our simple meal. One main and no sides! We did drink down a pot of coffee hot from the vacuum pot after the meal was eaten!

Barbecued Hamburgers

Note right from the cookbook:
These spicy sandwiches are great favorites with men at country sales.

3 T. shortening
3 lbs. ground beef
3 large onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. salt
1 ½ T. black pepper
½ tsp. ground red pepper
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ c. flour
1 ¼ c. canned tomatoes (I used one regular 14 or so ounce can)
¾ c. Ketchup

· Melt shortening in heavy skillet. Combine ground beef, onions and garlic. Cook in skillet until lightly browned.
· Add seasonings. Stir in flour. Add tomatoes and ketchup, mixing well.
· Simmer 15-20 minutes until thickened. Spoon between split buns to make hot sandwiches.

Makes 20 servings.

Taken from: {Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook}

The big B had his requested breakfast again this morning: Scrambled cheese eggs and two pieces of toast. A glass of fresh water to wash it all down!

For lunch, we had tortillas with some heated meat from a previous cooking session, seasoned with taco seasoning. A bit of melted cheese over that and a generous spread of homemade hummus on the hot tortilla and that was all of that meal.

Sunday

"Life, within doors, has few pleasanter prospects than a neatly arranged and well-provisioned breakfast table."
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)




Our son and his girlfriend came home to each of their families this weekend and met back up this morning here for breakfast. It was a place and way to spend some time together since we might not see them again until Christmas.

We had little ones crawling and playing with a firetruck in one room, running and jumping in another, and helping me in the kitchen. It was nice to hear everyone talking, laughing and spending time in one place.

I got the coffee cake in the oven first since it took the longest to make and then started the pancakes and two pans of bacon. Coffee was kept on the stove so all the cups could keep being refilled and the scrambled eggs with cheese were done last.

My sister ended up stopping by on her way to see her daughter here in town and she flipped pancakes on the cast iron, stove-top grill plate while I finished the other foods. My DIL, son's gf, and daughter all served the plates out as stack after stack of pancakes were made ready. {Smile}
They guys talked and did whatever they were doing in the dining and living room while all the kitchen activity was happening.

The name for the pancakes was unusual but they had high reviews and I wanted to make sure all my buttermilk was used up today while it was fresh! Here are the recipes:

Truck-Stop Buttermilk Pancakes
Submitted by: BOBOBEARZOE
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 290 members Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 5 Minutes Ready In: 15 Minutes
Yields: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted
5 cups buttermilk
5 cups all-purpose flour 5 teaspoons baking powder
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 pinch salt (optional)
5 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, butter and buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar; stir into the wet ingredients just until blended. Adjust the thickness of the batter to your liking by adding more flour or buttermilk if necessary.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. Continue with remaining batter.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/28/2008

Blueberry Buttermilk Coffeecake
Submitted by: BATA
Rated: 5 out of 5 by 116 members Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Yields: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups blueberries

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Sift together 4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter and 1 1/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Sir in blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. In a small bowl, combine 2/3 cup flour and 2/3 cup sugar. cut in 6 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over top of batter.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/28/2008