Sunday BBQ

It was hot yesterday!  So we grilled out.  John wanted Beer Can Chicken – I wanted to clean the freezer.  And I found a 9 pound Pork Roast!!!!

So we grilled both.  That Pork took 7 hours to slow cook!  (and I did not get a picture of the finished roast) 

Here was Sunday dinner….. Chicken, fruit salad, coleslaw, and pasta salad.   OK I was in a clean out the fridg mode, so make salads.  It was yummy!!

Coffee Cookies!

The original recipe was found at Chickens in the Road here.  You can find LOTS of good thing on this site.  Most of my new recipes come from the forum – Check it out!!  Here is my version of these cookies, I made a few modifications mostly because we don’t keep a large pantry and I like coffee flavor a lot.  Boy are they good,  YUM!!

2 1/2 T  instant coffee crystals 1 1/2 T  hazel nut creamer * 1 c  butter 2/3 c  sugar 2/3 c  brown sugar 1 t  baking soda 1/4 t  salt 1  egg 1 1/2 t  vanilla

2 1/4 c  flour 3 T  coco powder 2 1/2 T hazel nut creamer * 1/4 c  chocolate chips  (optional) * The original recipe called for cream or half and half – but I never have any.  The coffee creamer worked great as an alternative!

• dissolve coffee in 1 1/2 T of creamer
• in mixer, cream butter with sugar and brown sugar
• add coffee mixture, soda, salt, egg and vanilla
• mix in flour slowly
• divide dough in half
• add coco powder and creamer to one half
• add chocolate chips to other half
• place a small drop of each dough together on cookie sheet
• bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees

NOTE:   There are only 2 of us here now, and instead of baking all of this recipe, I baked 2 small sheets then wrapped the rest into 2 rolls and refrigerate for later in the week. 

Stuffed Shells - the end of a busy day

John had knee surgery yesterday. And as a result I have been cooking. I like to cook, but I want to get some things done for Christmas.

I did put in a bit of effort on tonight's dinner but I also had help.

While I mixed up some marinara sauce, Tony cooked the shells and stuffed them with meat that John had mixed and froze a few weeks ago.
I however can NOT leave things alone. I added a chunck of fresh motz and some sharp cheader on top.

Live is just better with cheese. So it follows that life is More Better with More CHEESE. hee hee
And while I had the kitchen trashed making candy, cookies and bagles I whipped up some FRESH Bread to go with the pasta.
We should have had a salad with this. Maybe tomorrow. I'm tired.

Tomorrow: Wrap presents, clean out woodstove, make shopping list for holiday meals and maybe get a quilt bound?

This ones for Carol

This is the easiest Christmas Candy EVER! Make 1/2 a batch if your not sure. Or if you tend to eat all the sweets in the house until they are gone.

Start with a sleeve of crackers on greased foil in a jelly roll pan.
(A cookie sheet will do, if its big enough. Just bend up the edges of the foil to avoid a mess!)

Melt 2 sticks of butter (NOT Margine) and then add 1 cup packed brown sugar.

Bring to a boil and stir 3 min. The goo will start to firm up as it cooks.

I Missed a pic. Pour the goo over the crackers and bake at 375 for 10 min.

-- missing picture --


Sprinkle on 12 oz of chips and bake for 1 additional min. Take out and spread the chocolate. Then freeze.

Here in IL in December - I just place the pan on the workbench in the garage for an hour or so...

When the choclate and toffee are set. Bring the batch back into the house, peal off the foil and break into random pieces. (try not to eat too much right away....)

This is sooooo good. I found it on a blog last year, made notes on a scrap of paper. I just found the reciepe in a kitchen draw. I am making a card for my file now.

EASY Christmas Toffee
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
2 sticks of butter (not margine)
1 cup packed brown sugar
12 oz shoclate chips (nuts to sprinkle - optional)

-preheat oven 375 degrees
-layer jelly roll with foil, grease foil
-arrange crackers on foil
-melt butter, add brown sugar / boil for 3 min, stiring
-pour over crackers / bake for 10 min
-sprinkle with chips and return to oven for 1 min
-spread soften chips, sprinkle with nuts if desired
-harden in freezer
-break into radom shapes, enjoy!

Tomatoes

I love this time of the year! It is getting cooler out but there are still lots of tomatos .



Here is what the dining room floor looked like a month ago,

And here is what the floor looks like tonight. I could double these baskets up but I want to see the fruit as it ripens, I will not put these until they are a little redder.

I have canned 35 quarts and dehydrated two batches. But it looks like there will be plenty of fresh tomatos for the hamburgers this week, and a few salads of tomatos with basil and motz. yum!!

We pick before they are just right because these came from my mothers garden. This way when I come home from work, I can put up a small batch of 6-8 quarts in the evening. That way it will not be soooo much work on Saturday.

Mac-N-Cheese

Leftover pasta and a bunch of cheese in the fridg.......

A prefect Saturday lunch - with enough for dinner. If Tony isn't around.

Strawberries!

We are currently taking a strawberry break. But for 3 weeks this is what I did each night after work. The blossoms are back!

My husband would pick berries at my mothers during the day, and I would clean them in the evening. We had shortcake, smoothies, and ice cream and berries.


They are much better when they are fresh.



But on the weekends we made jam for the winter.



Ok some for now - you cant let those partial jars go to waste!

Supply Storage

Ok, I have started to buy my spinach like this. It goes against most everything I beleive in. I like the idea of organic - but I do not beleive I need all this packaging and the extra cost is just crazy!

This is what I usually get. A bunch is normally about $1. But there is another cost...

Cleaning the bunch does takes time.

I remove the stems.



I like the stems. But I have talked my son and husband to eat spinach in their salads, and they do NOT like stems. Life is full of comprises.


And when you remove the stems there is some waste.

Don't for to dry before wrapping them up for the ice box.

Or you will have a slimmy green goo instead of a good salad.

So why did I start buying the over packaged, over priced box.

Quilting of course!

These are great for leader and ender pieces.

And I almost have 2 boxes of bonus tringles. One box for blue/neutral the other is mainly green/neutral, with 2 rows for orange/ivory and red/neutrals.