Gnome Fairy Faerie Elf window by NothinButWood on Etsy
There is no end to how these little doors could be used. I like this rounded one with a little, window flower box. I might set up a tiny log for it in my herb garden this summer:)
The same etsy store (one of my favorite shopping spots!) has little wheel barrels, a small wood and more holder and a itty bridge.
Now, to keep the neighbor's cats away . . .
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
What We've Made Recently
Here are the goods I've been baking and making in my kitchen for the past few weeks:
My husband brought some containers of strawberries home and I had planned to make strawberry bread for the longest time. I finally did and it was a lot darker than I knew it would be (maybe the extra vanilla and strawberry extract I added?) but it was so delicious!
I sliced some for us and it was devoured by our seven year old and the two oldest grandlittles, Emily and Caden. The recipe made two loaves so I sent slices for my niece's best friend and her mother and sent some home with my DIL for her husband:)
Strawberry Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh strawberries
3 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
2. Slice strawberries, and place in medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and set aside while preparing bread mixture.
3. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl: mix well. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans. Divide batter into pans.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out, and cool completely.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2010 Allrecipes.com
Vegetarian-if-you-eat-eggs- Tortillas
My DIL and I were getting all kinds of help in the kitchen from Emily (4) and Caden (2) while we held Hailey (8 months) and with all our help. . . managed a great lunch.
We heated tortillas on a griddle and topped them with sharp cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and garlic, topped that with a fried egg, added some butterhead lettuce leaves and shook some hot sauce on the top. We wrapped them burrito style and they were so good!
We also had Brandy's (DIL) sloppy joe's from the night before and they were WONDerful.
Today, Nana & Papa surprised us with bags full of produce and a darling visit. We talked at the table and emptied a whole pot of coffee. I fried some potatoes with Vidalia onions and cooked cabbage in the WOK and put them all together for lunch. I added garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, salt and pepper to the potatoes and sprinkled parmesan cheese shavings over at the last.
Summer days are setting in so I will share from what I make as we carry along. . . smiles.
My husband brought some containers of strawberries home and I had planned to make strawberry bread for the longest time. I finally did and it was a lot darker than I knew it would be (maybe the extra vanilla and strawberry extract I added?) but it was so delicious!
I sliced some for us and it was devoured by our seven year old and the two oldest grandlittles, Emily and Caden. The recipe made two loaves so I sent slices for my niece's best friend and her mother and sent some home with my DIL for her husband:)
Strawberry Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh strawberries
3 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
2. Slice strawberries, and place in medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and set aside while preparing bread mixture.
3. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl: mix well. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans. Divide batter into pans.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out, and cool completely.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2010 Allrecipes.com
Vegetarian-if-you-eat-eggs- Tortillas
My DIL and I were getting all kinds of help in the kitchen from Emily (4) and Caden (2) while we held Hailey (8 months) and with all our help. . . managed a great lunch.
We heated tortillas on a griddle and topped them with sharp cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and garlic, topped that with a fried egg, added some butterhead lettuce leaves and shook some hot sauce on the top. We wrapped them burrito style and they were so good!
We also had Brandy's (DIL) sloppy joe's from the night before and they were WONDerful.
Today, Nana & Papa surprised us with bags full of produce and a darling visit. We talked at the table and emptied a whole pot of coffee. I fried some potatoes with Vidalia onions and cooked cabbage in the WOK and put them all together for lunch. I added garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, salt and pepper to the potatoes and sprinkled parmesan cheese shavings over at the last.
Summer days are setting in so I will share from what I make as we carry along. . . smiles.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Food Finds and "Fixings"
I pulled out cookbooks the other day to "dream plan" for when the food budget is more luxurious than of late:)
I just grabbed the quickest to reach from my cookbook shelves and ended up flipping through,
Saving Dinner and Crazy for Casseroles. What delicous ideas lined and landed in those books.
Meanwhile, I did another inventory of my pantry shelves, refrigerator and freezer, and kitchen supplies. I will share any creativity I am blessed to receive!
Here are some of the nutrititous basics I will be preparing:
Jars of dried beans {black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, white beans, lima beans and pinto beans}
A jar of potato flakes ... gift for my daughter from her Nana.
I just grabbed the quickest to reach from my cookbook shelves and ended up flipping through,
Saving Dinner and Crazy for Casseroles. What delicous ideas lined and landed in those books.
Meanwhile, I did another inventory of my pantry shelves, refrigerator and freezer, and kitchen supplies. I will share any creativity I am blessed to receive!
Here are some of the nutrititous basics I will be preparing:
Jars of dried beans {black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, white beans, lima beans and pinto beans}
A jar of potato flakes ... gift for my daughter from her Nana.
- Jar of brown rice
- spiral pasta
- elbow pasta
- angel hair pasta
- frozen strawberries
- frozen brocolli
- cucumbers,
- Romaine lettuce
- tomatoes
- bread
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Steak & Salad
“Salad is never more appetizing than when served in a large wooden bowl.”
Dorothy Draper, 'Entertaining is Fun’ (1941)
Steak & Salad
My MIL was craving a good steak and huge, tossed salad. She gave us the money so my husband got the meat and I got the produce . . . funny how much that reflects us. I love fruits and vegetables and healthy, wholesome foods. Blake? He loves meat. If our freezer and refrigerator were full of beef, chicken, turkey, fish, and on and on the list goes --- he would be fine with little else.
Anyway, our DIL and grandbits came over and our 6-year-old went with Granna to see Grandpa in the VA hospital. While they did that and my husband grilled steak and chicken breasts, the rest of worked on the salad. It turned out better than any, ever before!
My DIL, 15- year- old daughter, and our 3-year-old granddaughter all helped! We washed and spun dry two heads of lettuce and filled a large drainer with a bounty of produce. We washed it well and peeled, cut, and grated everything into one, large, bowl.
My MIL came in mid way through and suggested I use the salad shooter for all of it since that is what it is for. I’m in such a habit of using a knife or food processor that I only shred the carrots and cheese most of the time, using the shooter.
I grated a bag of washed, peeled, carrots with the ends cut off and filled a bowl with them. Emily, my granddaughter asked me what the salad shooter was and I told her. She replied: “You mean, carrot shooter, Nandy?”
It was cute because she looked up from her little cutting board with little cutting knife (a small butter knife with a blue handle) and her small, yellow drainer full of vegetables to cut up. She paused with knife mid air and then went right back to cutting.
Caden, her younger brother (2 years old) took her spot using the old, wooden stool from Mamaw’s house. He added flair to his work by chewing some of the vegetables up and spitting them on the work table. Yes, I stopped him. Just thought the difference in Emily’s precise job and his stark contrast set smiles up in my heart.
Hailey talked and jabbered with a soft lid to one of our storage containers from a pallet on the floor. One of our Christmas Eve kittens was fascinated with her and kept watching her every move. The beagle tried to plop down with her since she loves pallets but we didn’t allow it and she sauntered off to the living room to sneak up on the couch.
Onto the salad!
This was it:
Bite sized lettuce
Sliced cucumbers
Sliced zucchini
Slice yellow squash
Sliced (half wise) vine ripe tomatoes
Shredded carrots
Sliced radishes
Sliced green peppers
Fresh broccoli heads
Dried cranberries
Sliced Pears
Sliced Kiwi (peeled, too)
Sliced Mangoes
Sliced red onions
Walnuts
It sounds like a strange combination, I know. It was beyond words and everyone raved on and on and on over it.
The next day, we ate it topped with shredded, sharp cheddar cheese.
We made up bottles of the Italian dressing you buy in packets and mix in cruets. When it is first made, we add honey and shake well before serving --- a tip from one of my sisters that we have fallen in love with.
We also had Raspberry Vinaigrette with walnuts and light Ranch for those who wanted it.
The salad was enjoyed at least as much as the steaks and this included my husband! He has always joked about me eating rabbit food but now he loves it. Laugh . . .
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Wednesday: 3/10/10
God has given us two hands:- one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for giving.|
Billy Graham
Oatmeal Cake
1 ¼ cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg (we used this and then freshly grated some to go with it.)
Combine water and oats in a small bowl; set aside.
Place butter, brown sugar, and sugar in bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater. Turn to speed 4 and beat 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl.
Add vanilla. Turn to speed 4 and add eggs, one at a time, beating 15 seconds after each addition. Stop and scrape bowl. Add oat mixture, flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Turn to speed 4 and beat 30 seconds.
Pour batter into greased and floured 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes. Cool cake in pan. When cool, top with Broiled Coco-Walnut Topping
Yield: One 9-inch cake
*My notes* We doubled the ingredients (started with the Kitchenaid but I made a mistake with the oatmeal so we needed to double it so I transferred everything to the Bosch mixer) and I added more nutmeg and chocolate chips --- ideas from my creative DIL!
I also put the topping on the cakes while the cake was hot and it was delicious!
Broiled Coco-Walnut Topping
¾ cup shredded coconut
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Spread on top of cake. Place under broiler until topping is bubbly. Cool before serving.
From: The KitchenAid Cookbook
Wednesday with my DIL and three of my grandlittles was today and what a day it was! The first part of the morning consisted of me doing laundry, mopping the kitchen floor and doing some basic tidying and my DIL taking three kids in the rain on errands without an umbrella!
I wanted to bake something so the warmth created by the oven and the comfort of home baked goods would make things inside more welcoming.
We had salads for lunch (left overs from last night and I’ll share that in another post) and ended up adding French bread and roasted garlic hummus. So good!
We bounced babies on our knees while going through cookbooks and Brandy found the Oatmeal cake recipe. Great idea!
This was well loved by us and the three teen girls who came talking and laughing in from school later this afternoon.
We watched a movie (“Murder In Coweta County” --- a true story and had Andy Griffith and Johnny Cash in it) and visited until this evening. We were both so tired and longed for naps but those are pretty non-existent. {Smile}
Billy Graham
Oatmeal Cake
1 ¼ cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg (we used this and then freshly grated some to go with it.)
Combine water and oats in a small bowl; set aside.
Place butter, brown sugar, and sugar in bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater. Turn to speed 4 and beat 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl.
Add vanilla. Turn to speed 4 and add eggs, one at a time, beating 15 seconds after each addition. Stop and scrape bowl. Add oat mixture, flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Turn to speed 4 and beat 30 seconds.
Pour batter into greased and floured 9 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes. Cool cake in pan. When cool, top with Broiled Coco-Walnut Topping
Yield: One 9-inch cake
*My notes* We doubled the ingredients (started with the Kitchenaid but I made a mistake with the oatmeal so we needed to double it so I transferred everything to the Bosch mixer) and I added more nutmeg and chocolate chips --- ideas from my creative DIL!
I also put the topping on the cakes while the cake was hot and it was delicious!
Broiled Coco-Walnut Topping
¾ cup shredded coconut
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Spread on top of cake. Place under broiler until topping is bubbly. Cool before serving.
From: The KitchenAid Cookbook
Wednesday with my DIL and three of my grandlittles was today and what a day it was! The first part of the morning consisted of me doing laundry, mopping the kitchen floor and doing some basic tidying and my DIL taking three kids in the rain on errands without an umbrella!
I wanted to bake something so the warmth created by the oven and the comfort of home baked goods would make things inside more welcoming.
We had salads for lunch (left overs from last night and I’ll share that in another post) and ended up adding French bread and roasted garlic hummus. So good!
We bounced babies on our knees while going through cookbooks and Brandy found the Oatmeal cake recipe. Great idea!
This was well loved by us and the three teen girls who came talking and laughing in from school later this afternoon.
We watched a movie (“Murder In Coweta County” --- a true story and had Andy Griffith and Johnny Cash in it) and visited until this evening. We were both so tired and longed for naps but those are pretty non-existent. {Smile}
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
My Dad & Notes on Now
My Dad & Notes on Now (I sent this to the wrong blog the first time!)
Dear Readers,
For any of you who don't know, my dad passed away on February 8th at 11:30 pm.
I am hoping to write more soon and to share the recipes again now because I know he would encourage me to do just that.
I miss him.
Tonight, I was doing yet another cozying of my kitchen (have been working on it for days) and moved a picture of him with his name at the top. I felt like sitting down and crying in my hands until the tears were all gone but closed my eyes and kept moving.
The latter was much more comforting this time.
I hope each one reading this will cherish every single moment with your parents. Grandparents, kids, grandkids and on it goes. They are such SOUL GIFTS.
Onto the blog focus on food so I don't overwhelm you with too much of my own world and thoughts:
Today in my kitchen, I made four loaves of homemade bread, a delicious roast with carrots and potatoes in the oven, a very large chicken breast "oven fried", a pot of two pieces of chicken simmered in water with carrots and seasonings, a pan of homemade style noodles in the chicken broth (once the meat and carrots were removed) and a cast iron skillet full of fried chicken with a pan of gravy on the side.
This served us for lunch, dinner and some snacking through the day!
I planned to make a Cocoa and Banana bar dessert but didn't have bananas! If I end up liking it when I do try it, I'll share the recipe here.
The roast was put in a greased cast iron deep skillet and I cut it in four pieces, rubbed with oil, salt, pepper, minced garlic, and onion flakes. I added lots of carrots and some small potatoes.
The fried chicken was just a cut up chicken, washed and dredged in a flour, salt, pepper, and all purpose seasoning mixture. Once fully coated, I put it in a skillet with some peanut oil already getting hot and then sprinkled a bit more all purpose seasoning over all. The chicken didn't get turned until it was lightly browned on the side nearest the heat.
We really enjoyed these foods and all the ovens and stovetops created some darling heat all through the main rooms!
Our son was here from college (he came to see his brother and his new baby) so it provided a nice lunch and snack for him.
Our DIL took our oldest son back to the Police Academy so she stopped by and we had coffee and fixed plates of chicken, noodles, gravy and bread. God made that time cooking today overflow to comfort and feed all of us!
Dear Readers,
For any of you who don't know, my dad passed away on February 8th at 11:30 pm.
I am hoping to write more soon and to share the recipes again now because I know he would encourage me to do just that.
I miss him.
Tonight, I was doing yet another cozying of my kitchen (have been working on it for days) and moved a picture of him with his name at the top. I felt like sitting down and crying in my hands until the tears were all gone but closed my eyes and kept moving.
The latter was much more comforting this time.
I hope each one reading this will cherish every single moment with your parents. Grandparents, kids, grandkids and on it goes. They are such SOUL GIFTS.
Onto the blog focus on food so I don't overwhelm you with too much of my own world and thoughts:
Today in my kitchen, I made four loaves of homemade bread, a delicious roast with carrots and potatoes in the oven, a very large chicken breast "oven fried", a pot of two pieces of chicken simmered in water with carrots and seasonings, a pan of homemade style noodles in the chicken broth (once the meat and carrots were removed) and a cast iron skillet full of fried chicken with a pan of gravy on the side.
This served us for lunch, dinner and some snacking through the day!
I planned to make a Cocoa and Banana bar dessert but didn't have bananas! If I end up liking it when I do try it, I'll share the recipe here.
The roast was put in a greased cast iron deep skillet and I cut it in four pieces, rubbed with oil, salt, pepper, minced garlic, and onion flakes. I added lots of carrots and some small potatoes.
The fried chicken was just a cut up chicken, washed and dredged in a flour, salt, pepper, and all purpose seasoning mixture. Once fully coated, I put it in a skillet with some peanut oil already getting hot and then sprinkled a bit more all purpose seasoning over all. The chicken didn't get turned until it was lightly browned on the side nearest the heat.
We really enjoyed these foods and all the ovens and stovetops created some darling heat all through the main rooms!
Our son was here from college (he came to see his brother and his new baby) so it provided a nice lunch and snack for him.
Our DIL took our oldest son back to the Police Academy so she stopped by and we had coffee and fixed plates of chicken, noodles, gravy and bread. God made that time cooking today overflow to comfort and feed all of us!
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