wordless Wednesday

when life hands you green tomatoes

With below-freezing temps headed our way it was time to pluck the last of the green tomatoes from the plants.  I assigned the job to the wee ones and it was one they really enjoyed.

Especially when they found happy smiling green tomatoes.

They picked several pounds of tomatoes and I promised I'd make a pie.  Because when life hands you green tomatoes, you make green tomato pie, right?  And fried green tomatoes, and piccalilli, and green tomato bread, and and and...  They're far too precious a commodity to toss to the chickens, though the little sneaks did manage to grab a couple.

The pie was quite good and was well-received.  It tasted very much like an apple pie with a consistency that reminded me of rhubarb.  A splash of apple cider vinegar lent a nice tartness to it and countered the sweet.  I would (and am expected to, like asap) make this again.

This is the recipe I used for the pie, and I always use Martha Stewart's instructions for the crust. (though I don't have a food processor so I do that bit by hand).  A note about the recipe, even though I used roma tomatoes, which aren't very juicy, I did add extra flour as suggested by the recipe reviews.  The filling turned out great, not too runny, just right.

Delish!

Do you have any tips for using up the remains of the summer garden?



Sour puss

Anyone else seeing kitties in my rhubarb?  Alien kitties maybe...

meow

Wordless Wednesday

Again with the not really wordless bit...

What to do when your oven breaks?  Bake bread in the grill of course. (it worked!)

A Forest Birthday Celebration

Today is a special day for the forest friends who have come to live with me.  Their creator, Nanou, is celebrating a birthday.  A meringue mushroom feast was made and the story was told over on a new blog dedicated to Nanou's sweet forest friends.  Stop by and meet some of the other forest friends scattered throughout the world.

I think it takes a very special soul to inspire a sense of whimsy in people like Nanou does, and we here under the poplar and pine are feeling lucky indeed to have such an amazing circle of friends.

Happy Birthday Nanou! and a happy day to all of you!

Wordless Wednesday

Hubby's Secret Cinnamon Roll Recipe

For those of you that asked about the cinnamon roll recipe my husband used to make the delicious treat seen in yesterday's post, well it seems it's not such a secret.  He uses Paula Deen's cinnamon roll recipe, found here. 

The only changes he makes is that he doubles the recipe to make enormous rolls, which yields giant inside pieces (my favorite part).  He also uses brown sugar instead of white and adds cloves to the cinnamon.  It makes the rolls kind of caramel-y.  When eating, he is adamant that you slather a glob of butter on top of it. 

He also lets them rise in a bowl on top of the firewood, next to the fire, but that step is completely optional.  So is pretending they're snails.  ;)

Enjoy!

Jalapeno and Cheddar Cookies

When I saw this recipe on Design Sponge the other day for Leah Verwey’s savory cookies, I knew I had to try them.  Being a lover of cheese, spice, and cookies, I figured this was the perfect cookie for me.  I made them yesterday and you know what?  Delicious!

I used an extra sharp white cheddar and did a rough-cut on my jalapenos.  I think the next time I make them I will dice the jalapenos and grate the cheese more finely to make a smoother consistency.  I will also roll them out a little thinner, maybe to 1/4" thick since I really liked the crispier ones best.  Mine took quite a bit longer to cook and I suspect it was because they were a little thicker than Leah's.

The flavor though, amazing.  Nom.  They're sort of like a condensed biscuit.  A cheddary, slightly spicy delicious biscuit.  I can't wait to make them again.  I'm already thinking of the flavor combinations to be had...

Pop over to Design Sponge, here to see the recipe and the beautiful photos that accompany it.

What are you cooking this weekend?

Meringue Mushrooms

I am in love.

As if I weren't addicted to mushrooms as it was, now I've found a recipe for mushroom sweets!  I made these up last night and I thought they were super easy to make.  I used this recipe.  I wasn't sure what size to make the caps and stems so I decided to just wing it and make an assortment and they all turned out great.  The next time I make them, I'll make the stems a bit larger but I'm happy with my first attempt. 

And seriously, how cute are these?!

Another busy day here, I have 7 kids on hand so I'm going to be doing some art projects to keep them busy.  I'm feeling rather glad that hubby picked up a bottle of wine yesterday because I suspect that I'll need some at the end of the day.  :)

Happy Friday everyone!

Butternut Squash Pancakes

Oh how I love the farmer's market.  We grow a garden of our own, but it's really wonderful to be able to pick up things that we don't grow here like colorful carrots, heirloom tomatoes, and herbed goat cheese.  While there I also picked up a few squash as ours aren't ready yet.  We had some with dinner the other night, but I had leftovers.  What to do with left over squash?  Pancakes.  Yes sir, pancakes. 

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, roasted and mashed. (truthfully, I microwaved mine...)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves (or allspice, pumpkin pie spice, etc.)

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.  Combine the mashed squash (redundant?), eggs, and milk, then add the dry ingredients and mix well.  The batter should be a little thicker than your normal pancake batter, but not so thick that you can't spread them out on the griddle.  Add milk until you reach desired constency. 

Heat your griddle on medium heat and grease it.  Ladle the batter onto the griddle and cook about 2 minutes on each side.

I served mine with local honey, chokecherry jam, and real butter.  The cakes themselves have a smooth, almost pumpkin pie-like texture inside, and combined with the fruity jam...oh.my.my.  SO good.  I think they'd be really good with a little vanilla yogurt too.  Definitely a new autumn favorite.

These were so good that while I was snapping photos of the pancakes, my family devoured the entire batch.  Thank goodness I still had my photo props. 

I love squash of all kinds, do you have a favorite squash recipe you can share with me?

Bean Brownies

Today I made bean brownies, something I've never tried before, and you know what? They're pretty good! The kids have already gobbled some up and have asked for more so they pass that test. Now to see if the oldest and my hubby do the same. I think I'll tell them about the beans after they've tried them though...

Here's the recipe I used:

1 3/4 cups beans, rinsed and drained - (I used dried white beans that I soaked overnight then simmered until soft)
3 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil - (I used olive oil)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar - (I used brown sugar because I was out of white sugar)
a handful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350

Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.

Run your beans through your blender until they're smooth and creamy. Add eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, salt, and baking powder and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.



The taste was really similar to traditional brownies, but the texture was slightly different...not unappealing at all, just a little different. Sort of light and spongy. I would make them again, for sure. I think I'd like to try them with a little espresso powder or flavor extract next time. We always seem to have dried beans on hand, and in fact I plant beans just for drying, and this is a nice affordable way to inject some fiber and protein into your dessert diet.
Mmmm....dessert diet...

If you try it, let me know how you liked it.

Not Much To Report

Well, how's that for a blog post title?  In truth, there isn't much to report this week.  We're adjusting to hubby's new work schedule and finding time to do much of anything besides kid-chasin' has been a real struggle.  I'm confident that we'll get settled shortly though.  Some days are just like this. 

In the meantime the kidlets and I have been tending to our new chicks, gathering from the woods, and doing some cooking together.  This week we sugared violets for our banana muffins, made some cheese, sweet potato gnocchi, and tonight we're making parsnip muffins.  It will be the very first time any of us have had parsnips so this should be interesting. 

In studio news, my little shop is in the IndieFixx Spring Galleria.  If you're looking for some new indie shops to discover, you should check it out.  There are some really amazing finds and "new to me" shops.  IndieFixx is a lifestyle blog and more, and is a wonderful source of information and inspiration. 

In the woods, we're seeing much more green.  Today is day two of rain and it's amazing just how quickly everything greens up.  The ferns are coming up, the trilliums are unfurling, and the acorns are starting to sprout.  We're enjoying this period of beautiful bug-free weather immensely.

I hope you had a good week.  Enjoy your weekend! 

Baking and Beans (but not baked beans)

The annual cookie-a-thon has begun in my house.  Each year I bake cookies as gifts so about a week before Christmas the house begins filling with the scent of spices and sugar.   I have a favorite that is really easy to make and delish, so I thought I'd share.  It's a standard oatmeal cookie recipe, but I like to add dried blueberries or cherries and pecans.  ( NO raisins.  blech!!)   Combined with a bit of cinnamon and vanilla, it's pure heaven when paired with a good cuppa coffee.

Here's the recipe:

Oatmeal cookies

2/3 c. granulated sugar

2/3 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. softened butter

1/2 c. shortening

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

3 cups oats

1 c. flour

1 c. dried blueberries, cherries, or cranberries

1 c. pecans

Mix all ingredients except oats, flour, fruit, and nuts in a bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2" apart onto an ungreased (or parchment lined) baking sheet.  Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes.  Remove immediately to a wire rack.

I have a couple of young helpers at home and while they do looove to help with the baking, sometimes I need a distraction so I can just crank out some dough.  Today I gave them a mixing bowl and dried beans to play with.  Are they going to make a mess?  Yes.  Do they love it?  Yes.  Hey, they're beans.  I can just sweep them up, no problem.

They inevitably moved from playing with the community bowl to other areas of the house.  Once they start making crop circles on the floor with the beans, I try to sweep them up lest we find beans throughout the house until New Years.

What to do once you sweep them up?  Craft!  We glued ours onto some egg gourds I had, added a ribbon, and dubbed them ornaments. 

So that's that.  All in all a good day of baking and beans.  What did you do today?

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all of you celebrating today enjoy good company and good food and have a good nap with a full belly.  We're celebrating with family today and will be hosting our Thanksgiving dinner on Monday.  Drumstick up there has a few days reprieve, but he looked a little sweaty and nervous this morning.

I made a pumpkin and cream cheese jelly roll for today's meal and thought I'd share the recipe.  It has enough pumpkin flavor to be festive, but not so much that it's overwhelming.  I sprinkled on a little powdered sugar and made some marzipan acorns to top it off.

I hope you enjoy it.

Cake:

1 c. all purp. flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or allspice or nutmeg, etc.)

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs at room temp

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. canned pumpkin

powdered sugar for sprinkling

Cream cheese frosting:

12 ounces (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese at room temp

2/3 c. sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c. toasted pecans chopped

1.  Heat oven to 375.  Line a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 jelly-roll pan with waxed paper and coat with oil/shortening/spray.

2.  Combine flour, baking powder, spices, and salt in a small bowl.

3.  Beat eggs in a large bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes or until they thicken slightly.  Beat in sugar, a tablespoon at a time.  Continue beating until very thick and lemon-colored, about 5 to 7 minutes.  On lowest speed, beat in pumpkin until blended.  With a rubber spatula, foldin flour mixture in 2 batches and spread evenly in pan.

4.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when touched lightly in the center.  Generously sieve powdered sugar over a clean kitchen towel.  When cake is done, loosen edges and invert onto towel.  Remove the waxed paper and sprinkle the cake with additional powdered sugar.  From a short end, roll up the cake in jelly roll fashion and cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.

5.  Prepare filling;  beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl for 5 to 8 minutes or until creamy.  Stir in toasted pecans.

6.  Unroll cake.  Spread with filling.  Reroll without the towel.  Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy some cake.