BTW – when I fry my steaks, to keep the breading from falling off, I dip the tenderized steaks in the dry flour before dipping them in the wet dip of egg and buttermilk.  Then it’s back to the dry flour dip and into the pan. 

We’re hoping for a nice week – weather wise – we need to get down and finish the well house. David went down there last week and put down some new 2×4′s and we’ll probably try to get the roof back on by the end of the week.

Whenever we go down there to work – it’s like taking a short trip. We have to take water, food (in case David’s blood sugar drops), tools, and a gun. We take the gun because we never know what we’ll see. Had a fox run across the driveway Saturday when we were leaving and what with all the brush and junk around the well house – there could be snakes, skunks and Lord knows what else hiding down there.

We even saw what we thought was a cougar or mountain lion about 3 weeks ago tearing across the property. Haven’t seen it since – thank goodness.

And, saved the best for last.  Got a new recipe this weekend from Nancy. It’s for an oatmeal cake – that is really yummy and moist. I’m sure she won’t mind if I share it with you – so here goes…..

In a bowl put:

• 1 cup uncooked oats
• 1 stick butter or oleo
• 1-1/4 cup boiling water

Let this sit for about 20 minutes

Mix:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 1-1/4 cup sifted flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix well and add oat mixture – Pour into greased and floured pan (13″ x 9″)

Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees and ice with following recipe…

Icing:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 stick butter or oleo

Bring above ingredients to a rolling boil then add….

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Spread on cake and place under broiler until browned

PS – Check out I Can’t Believe It’s Sugar Free – for 2 new chocolate cake recipes.

Coming Soon!

With hunting season right around the corner, if you and your family like jerky you’ll want to get  – Perfect Jerky – everything you need to know about making the best homemade jerky.   There’s also 2 Bonus books that come with it  – some of my favorite dessert recipes and recipes for making your own jerky marinades. 

Up until today it still felt like summer…so much so that one day last week when I went out to feed the fish in the pond – I encountered a LARGE snake on the deck. I can only imagine he was out there sunning himself as the temperature was in the upper 90′s. I got about 3 steps onto the deck and heard this strange rustling sound – and there about 6 feet in front of me was this snake – looked to be about 4 feet long – gliding across the deck towards the house.   When he got to the edge of the deck he fell over and disappeared in the crack that’s between the house and the deck floor. I just froze – first off I couldn’t believe I was seeing a snake and secondly, couldn’t think of anything to do. Don’t think the snake was poisonous as it was totally black, so my best guess – being in a frozen state of mind – was that it was probably a coach whip. Haven’t seen it since – but you can bet I’m on the lookout.

With fall upon us and winter not far behind, going to have to start thinking about winter foods. All those dishes we enjoy in the winter but for some reason aren’t quite as tasty in the summer. One of our favorites is cheeseburger pie. This is a really simple dish using ground hamburger and a biscuit mix. I’ll be posting that recipe plus a couple more next few weeks. In the meantime, if you like lemons, check out the Lemon Chess Pie recipe on I Can’t Believe It’s Sugar Free. It’s an old-time favorite and I’ve put up two versions. On for making a traditional pie using sugar and the other sugar free using Splenda. Enjoy!

•  Strawberry Cake … made from a box mix and frozen strawberries  and
• Sweet Potato Casserole…made from fresh or canned sweet potatoes, brown sugar and pecans. 

Both are delicious!!   Enjoy!

If you’d like the recipe, you can get it here at  Breastforms Online blog or by clicking the pink link in the right side bar ‘Read Our Blog’  – Enjoy!

PS – Almost forgot!  Check out Perfect Jerky  to read about 7 different types of salt!

Everything was going fine, had the sausages cooked, the gravy was finished and I went to check on the biscuits. After about 15 minutes, they look just about done but I was going to turn the pan and let them bake for another couple of minutes – you know give them a nice even color.

Haven’t a clue what happened or how it happened but . . . when I pulled the oven rack out  - the pan slid – no,  flew – off the backside of the oven rack – biscuits and all. It was just like a giant magnet had sucked it backwards.

OK – now the pan is plastered flat against the back of the oven wall . . . biscuits still on it . . . standing straight up on its edge in the little space between the back oven wall and the heating element. So here I am – hot oven – biscuits and pan on edge, wondering how I’m going to get every thing out without loosing all my biscuits – or getting burned.

Amazing how fast the brain can process  a situation. First thing I did was turn the oven off and remove the racks. (You’d have thought the pan would have fallen down when I took the racks out, right? Not a chance.) I had to grab a very large knife so I could pry the pan away from the back wall. Of course, when I did this all of the biscuits fell into a heap right there on top the still very hot heating element. So now I’m in an even bigger hurry to get them out before they burn any more – or maybe flame up. Can biscuits flame? I don’t know nor did I want to find out.

David had grabbed a plate, I got the tongs and quickly started removing biscuits off the element. Naturally being in a hurry – I wasn’t too careful how I grabbed them (you could smell them scorching) – so when all was said and done, what we had was a pile of maybe three sorta-full biscuits and the rest were biscuit pieces and parts – all suffering major pinch marks.

Fortunately – they had been baking long enough that they were done – and since we were going to eat them with sausage gravy, it really didn’t matter if they were in pieces. What a mess. I’ll be more careful next time now that I know things can exit the backside of the oven racks. I’m just glad it wasn’t a bigger mess to clean up.

Jam Sticks

After that little ordeal, you can bet I’m going to be more careful with stuff in the oven . . . like the Jam Sticks I made for the weekend. I’ve had this recipe what seems like forever and it is oh so good.   Reminds me of what Mom used to call Teacakes. In fact, I used to make these for my dad when I was still at home.

These tender cookies can be made with any fruit jam or preserve but  I don’t recommend using jelly as the heat melts it.   I’ve always liked peach or raspberry for my sticks but like I say any fruit  flavor you like is good.

Jam Sticks Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 Cups confectioners powdered sugar (it must be powdered sugar)
• 1 Cup butter (room temperature)
• 1 Egg
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 Teaspoon almond extract
• 2-1/2 Cups sifted flour (regular flour)
• 1 Teaspoon baking soda
• 1 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sifted powdered sugar – then mix in the egg until everything is smooth. (This is a very soft dough so if you don’t sift the ingredients you may have some lumps.)



2. Add in the flavorings. Next, mix in the sifted dry ingredients by hand until completely blended. Do not over mix.
3. If the dough is too soft to handle, chill for about one hour before forming cookie sticks. (See below)
4. Heat oven to 375 degrees
5. Bake on lightly greased cookie pan for 8 minutes (Do not over bake or they will be hard.  Also, this cookie does not get brown or golden but stays a light color)
6. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pan
7. Glaze if desired

Making the Jam Stick:

1. When the dough can be handled, form into balls about the size of a golf ball.
2. Roll between your palms into a length of approximately 2 inches.
3. Lay on cookie sheet and flatten to a width of approximately 3/4 – 1 inch. (Dough can also be rolled out and cut into any shape.)
4. Make a slight indentation down the middle (careful not to go all the way through the dough or your filling will leak out)
5. Fill with about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of jam.   ( If you like sweeter cookies use more jam or for a less sweet cookie you can glaze use less jam.)
6. Bake as directed
7. Glaze (Optional)

Glaze

These cookies can be iced with a glaze of powdered sugar (approx. 1-1/2 cups), 1/4 teaspoon almond flavor, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and enough water to get the consistency of glaze that will just ‘drizzle’ easily. (You don’t want it too runny or it will make the cookie soggy.)

This recipe makes about 24 large jam stick cookies or 36 small jam stick cookies. (You can see from the picture they don’t brown but stay light in color and I almost over-baked these!)  Store leftovers in an air tight container. Also, if you want to make half this recipe, it works just as well.

Looking for good party punch recipes?   I put up 6 new recipes on ICBISF last week. Some alcoholic – some not.  Working on my favorite BBQ rubs and sauces.  I’ll have those ready in about a month.

Johnny had dropped the mixer off at his old auction house for us to pick up when we had time … we finally had time on Monday. We weren’t sure how heavy it would be so we took along the car ramps to load it. We were pleasantly surprised how easily it loaded . . . just rolled it right up into the back of the pickup and laid it down – didn’t even have to use any rope to secure it.   It was heavy enough to stay put. Made it all the way home – no problem. It’s now sitting in the garage awaiting a new coat of paint. Works like a charm and once David paints it – he has a whole list of projects to do.

The trip to Reagan was really nice. The red bud trees are blooming – as are the plum and pear trees. Everything is turning green and it is a nice change from the dull ‘brown’ pastures. Some of the wildflowers are in bloom and there were fields we passed that were blanketed in a lovely shade of pinkish-purple. On the other hand, it would seem some of the plants are a little ‘off season’. My Christmas cactus is just now blooming (about 2 months late) and my neighbor John – brought me a beautiful bouquet of camelias yesterday . . . and according to John – they are ‘late bloomers’ as well.

On a sad note, had one of our neighbors pass. Curious how you associate certain things with those that have gone on. Whenever my amarillis bloom, I always think of our friend in Houston…Jenova. The flower bed in her front yard was full of  amaryllis and she gave us a whole bunch of them when we moved up here some 12 years ago. I have them planted by the back steps to the deck.

And, of course, I always think of my Mom whenever I see ranunculus or sweet peas. As a child I remember every spring the flower beds were full of their colorful blooms. And then there’s Aunt Sallie’s cake. Got the recipe from neighbor John’s sister Judy Pickens about 8 years ago. She too is gone but I always think of her whenever I make this cake . . . and of course, mine never tastes as good as Judy’s.     

It’s a moist, chocolate cake with a hint of cinnamon (one of my favorite flavors). This is not a box cake and takes a little bit of work but definitely worth the effort.

Aunt Sallie’s Cake

In a large mixing bowl place:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour (regular)

In a sauce pan put the following:

• 1 stick margarine
• 1/2 cup Crisco
• 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa

Bring these 3 ingredients to a boil and pour over the flour and sugar.

To the above add in:

• 1 cup warm water with 1/2 teaspoon soda
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well and pour into a greased rectangular pan (approx. 13 x 9″)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Leave cake in pan.

Icing for Aunt Sallie’s Cake

(Start the icing about 5-10 minutes before the cake is done)

Ingredients:

• 1 stick margarine
• 4 tablespoons heaping cocoa
• 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 6 tablespoons canned evaporated milk
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Over low heat melt the margarine and cocoa in a pan.

To melted ingredients add 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar, milk, nuts. Beat together and spread over cake while hot. Cover iced cake leaving it in the pan used for baking.

Final Thought -  If you’re looking for the up and coming Spring colors and what’s new in the fashion world – visit these links -  Spring 2011 Fashion Trends and Top 10 Colors for Spring  and find out what ‘pink’ honeysuckle has to do with it all.

I think the only thing that keeps us from packing on the pounds is that we have our large meal in the middle of the day and a very small evening meal – and we don’t allow ourselves to eat anything after 8:00 – and that really should be moved up to 7:00.

Creature of Habit

Being a creature of habit, it took me a few months to get used to having to cook the ‘big’ meal in the middle of the day after a lifetime of eating a sandwich or something light for lunch and having the ‘big’ meal at night. Not only did this switch interrupt my work schedule on the computer – but also I found it hard to ‘not eat’ in the evening.   But we like our routine now and it does seem to help with weight control.

After that – feels like all I’ve been doing lately is cooking. Tried a different PF Chang frozen dinner, fixed a very large pot of soup and baked a sugar-free cake (the left over portion from my previous Pillsbury   post) – all with varying degrees of success.

PF Chang

While we  loved the PF Chang Orange Chicken frozen entree, the Shrimp Lo Mien leaves much to be desired. It’s missing that ‘Lo Mien’ flavor you get at the Chinese restaurants and the shrimp are microscopic in size. In fact I had to search through the noodles after everything was cooked just to find them.   So – before serving that up to David, I ended up hurriedly cooking some extra shrimp to add in so he’d feel like he was actually eating shrimp.  (BTW – the shrimp on the right is the PF Chang shrimp; the one on the left is my medium-sized shrimp.) 

Of course, there were enough leftovers, which I served the next day – with some fried rice and dumplings.   Only this time I sauteed shrimp in a little olive oil and some Teriyaki sauce and then mixed them into the left-over noodles while re-heating.  Much better – but not good enough that I’d buy it again. Think we’ll just stick to the Orange Chicken.

Sugar Free Cake, Again

I like preparing only half of a cake mix because we can’t – and don’t need to – eat a whole cake by ourselves. So, since I still had the remainder of the sugarfree cake mix and the rest of the sugar free frosting leftover – whipped up a cake yesterday.

You may or may not recall – there were some issues with the cake and frosting. So this time I knew better. For the cake pan made sure it was totally sprayed with oil, then added an extra egg into the mix along with 1/2 teaspoon of almond flavoring. Made sure  the batter and my extra additions were beat with the mixer for the full two minutes (plus a little for good measure) and baked it per box directions.

While the cake was baking I took the frosting out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature – making sure it would stir easily. I then added in 1/2 teaspoon of almond flavor and a scant 1 teaspoon of vanilla – then stirred it all together. This helped a lot with getting rid of the ‘processed’  flavor and made it a little easier to spread. It was still sticky, so I had a tall glass of hot water near by to dip the knife in when I was ready to frost the cooled cake.

Since I don’t like eating the same thing all the time – we’ve enjoyed some of the cake served with a little BB vanilla ice cream with a teaspoon of sugarfree caramel topping drizzled over the top. Scrumptious!

Around the House

Not much going on outside but inside is another story.  I’ve been working all day – every day – on the computer putting up some new blogs.  Both are related to other websites we have up but since it seems Goolge is favoring blogs – thought I’d better get busy.  One is on breast forms and fashion lingerie  which ties in to our Nearly Mine   site.  Visit  Breast Forms Online  for information on breast cancer, mastectomy prostheses and general health, fashion ligerie and beauty info.

The other blog ties to our original Texas Antique Mall site.  The Texas Antique Mall blog  has the same name – just a different spelling for the domain.  It’s going to be full of our antiquing ’secrets’  and helpful tips we’ve learned over the years while in the antique business.   

For those that may not know – David and I have been working – selling – on the Internet since 1997. We’ve seen a lot of changes and seems more are on the way.

I don’t know if any of you have ever entertained the idea of having an Internet business (blog or otherwise) – but if you’ve ever thought about having your own blog for business or just for fun – I’ve put up a post on our PowerToEarnMoney  blog that shows you how to configure a blog - step-by-step. You’ll find a lot more free information as well about how to make money online – and just about anything else you might need to know to get an online business going.

That being said – David and I took advantage of this ‘summer’ break taking time to do some re-arranging in our storage. Our intent was not to re-arrange but rather look for something – a book – which of course is always in the last place you think to look. The only places left were the lofts and I’m not sure that book was important enough to tackle the lofts. And if you’re wondering – it was a stamp reference book we needed for someone else!

Gopher Alert!

Guess we’re not the only ones enjoying the warmer weather. The moles…gophers are having a field day in the hay field  and back yard. Huge piles of dirt everywhere – in fact I have to wonder why we don’t sink into the ground up to our ankles as we walk – there has to be a pretty involved lattice work of tunnels out there.   So far we’ve not been able to find anything that discourages their endless tunneling. 

Kind of reminds me of that scene in Paint Your Wagon at the end where the whole town (No Name City) totally collapses because the characters played by Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin have tunneled everywhere under the town collecting the spilled gold dust. That’s an old movie – so you may or may not remember it. It was a fun movie with lots of beautiful scenery . . .

Pepparkakor!

Still working my way through my Christmas recipes. This week was cookie week. Have a good sugar cookie recipe that I add some almond flavoring  into – gives is a bakery flavor – or if you like, try adding in lemon.   I like to ice these cookies with cream cheese frosting   (almond or lemon flavor) – which of course you can color.

I got really ambitious one year and built a Christmas Tree out of them – started with large cookies at the bottom and worked my way up to small ones at the top. Iced the cookies green and then used sprinkles for decorations. It was very pretty – but loads of work.  That was one of those things  you do once in your life. 

One thing about these cookies, you need to have the dough cold and do not over-bake them (it took me a couple of times before I stopped over-baking them)  or they will loose that soft texture.

My other favorite cookie is a Ginger Thin. It is reminiscent of the pepparkakor cookies of Sweden. It is very dark, very spicy, and very crisp. Again with this dough you want to make sure it is cold when you work with it and watch the baking time closely. Once cooled – keep them in as air-tight container as possible to keep them crisp.

Recipes are on line here – Sugar ‘Almond’ Cookies . . . . Ginger Thins.

Scam Alert!

Had a phone call from an old acquaintance this week. She was looking for help with her web page. It would seem that she had ‘signed-up’ and paid for a program (Fortune Learning Systems) but was now having trouble getting them to deliver on services as promised. She wanted to know if we could help her get her website working (which we couldn’t) or help by giving her some questions to ask (which we did). 

I know that with times as they are, there are a lot of people looking for a way to stay home and earn a few extra dollars …. or maybe start a new career on the Internet. All I can say is PLEASE  investigate any program you may think you want to pursue. Look on line for scam reports, Better Business Bureau reports, blogs that monitor scams, etc. before investing any money. If it sounds too good to be true – it probably is.

If you want to learn how to put up a website or start your own blog, visit the Index page  of   http://powertoearnmoney.com/  where categories are broken down and you can see how to get started with either a website or blog.   Don’t see what you’re looking for – send us a question and we’ll try to help.

And, then there’s the odd thing that pops up every now and then and I have to say, ‘WOW!!’ . . . either because it’s something I’m really glad I’ve got or maybe it brings back a long lost memory. You know one of those memories that is extra special . . . like finding a group picture of the last family reunion from many years ago when everyone you love that’s now gone was still here. Sigh

Reminiscing about past Christmas’ always makes me think of Rum Cake. Probably because it’s another one of those things that I only make around Christmas time. Sometimes I’ll make an eggnog cake instead but use the same rum glaze on it – that’s really good too.

In the past I’ve baked these cakes in the small size aluminum loaf pans, wrapped them up and given them as gifts.   They are better if you let them sit with the glaze for at least a day before eating or giving. This little bit of time gives that rum glaze time to soak in.

I’m placing both cake recipes below (regular and eggnog) – and you can use the same rum glaze for both. You can also frost the eggnog cake with regular frosting if you like. Also both recipes called for either pecans, walnuts or almonds to be placed in the pans before pouring the batter.   If you like nuts, you can do this – I tend to like my cakes plain.

Rum Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 box regular yellow cake mix
• 1 3-3/4 oz package Jello Vanilla Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup dark rum

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 10″ tube or Bundt pan. (I prefer to make 2 loaf cakes)
2. Mix all cake ingredients together and pour into pan.
3. Bake 45 – 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. If using a tube/Bundt pan, invert cake on serving platter.
5. If using loaf pans, remove the cake and replace in loaf pan top-side down.
6. Prick top all over. (A bamboo skewer is good for this)
7. Brush glaze all over cake allowing to soak in. Continue process until all glaze is used.

Eggnog Cake 

Ingredients:

• 1 box regular yellow cake mix
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups eggnog
• 2 tablespoon rum or 1/4 teaspoon rum flavoring

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour Bundt pan or 2 loaf pans.
2. Mix all cake ingredients together and beat until smooth. (About 4 minutes)
3. Pour into pan(s) and bake 45 – 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. If using a tube/Bundt pan, invert cake on serving platter.  
5. If using loaf pans, remove the cake and replace in loaf pan top-side down.
6. Prick top all over. (A bamboo skewer is good for this)
7. Brush glaze all over cake allowing to soak in. Continue process until all glaze is used.

Rum Glaze

• 1/4 lb butter (1 stick)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar (extra fine is best)
• 1/2 cup dark rum of choice

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
2. Stir in water and sugar.
3. Boil 5 minutes stirring continuously
4. Remove from heat and stir in rum.

Hope you enjoy these!  And don’t foget to check out our new website – Nearly Mine –  for mastectomy and associated fashion products at  NearlyMine.org

Old Favorites

That also means its time to whip up some of my old favorite ‘nutty’ things to eat….

• Pralines  – creamy brown sugar candy base loaded with pecan halves
• Bourbon-pecan pie – traditional pecan pie with a hint of Jack Daniels
• Baklava  - flaky Greek pastry filled with pecans soaked in lemon honey syrup
• Rodeo nuts - variety of nuts coated in a sugary-cinnamon glaze

For some reason, I tend to think of these foods are season-specific – and don’t have them any other time of the year. That’s probably a good thing because I find each one just too tempting and if I had them available all year – that wouldn’t help my diet any.

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

Have a new recipe I want to try next week. Sounds really delicious. It’s for a Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake – found it on the Taste of Home website.

As cheesecakes go – this one doesn’t sound too difficult. (For some reason – I hate those where I have to use gelatin in the recipe.)

I’ve put the recipe below for those that might like to give it a try for their Thanksgiving dinner. After a quick review – looks like this recipe would convert to ‘no sugar added’ easily by using Splenda in place of the sugar – but I’m posting the recipe just like I found it.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1-1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter (melted)

Cream Cheese Filling:

• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese (softened)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)

Pumpkin Filling:

• 2 eggs
• 1-1/4 cups canned pumpkin
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Dash salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the pecans, sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom and 3/4 inch up the sides of a greased 9-inch spring-form pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg, beat on low speed just until combined. Spread over crust. In another bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, milk, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt; pour over the cream cheese layer.

3. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the pumpkin layer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Sprinkle with pecans. Chill overnight Remove sides of pan before cutting. Refrigerate leftovers.

Think I’ll serve mine with a bit of whipped cream just for fun.

PS – Don’t forget for those that want a ‘sugar-free’ cranberry sauce for the holidays – you can get my recipe here.