Fall Musings....

  Here it is and September is almost behind us!  I can't believe that the month has gone by as quickly as it has!
  I began on September 1st getting my fall decorations out.  I love my wreath for the door and I love my mantel decorations.  I still don't have my dining room area where I'd like it to be, but that gives me something to look forward to!

  

      Fall makes me feel cozy and always gets me pulling out the cookbooks to see what I can fix that's comforting and makes my family feel/smell the change of the season.  I've been busy making pumpkin rolls which is one of our family fall favorites. 
      Here's the recipe for anyone that wants to try this delicious dessert!  It's pretty, you can wrap it in plastic wrap and then in foil and freeze it.  Just a little before serving take it out of the freezer and it always slices so much prettier if it's frozen!

Pumpkin Roll

  Beat 3 eggs on high speed with mixer for 5 minutes.  (This is when you're glad you have a stand mixer!)  Gradually stir in 1 cup granulated sugar.  (That's underlined because I forgot it more than once!)  Stir in 2/3 cup pumpkin and 1 tsp. lemon juice.

   Stir together:

   3/4 cup flour

   1 tsp. baking powder

   2 tsp. cinnamon

   1 tsp. ginger

   1/2 tsp. salt

   1/2 tsp. nutmeg 

  *For those of you on a tight enough budget you can't go buy ginger and nutmeg, you can up the cinnamon by a tsp. and it is still wonderful!

   Fold into pumpkin.  Spread in grease and floured 15x10x1-inch pan. (This is a smaller cookie sheet.  Be sure and really give it the greasing and flouring or lots of Pam.  You don't want it to stick!)

At this point you can top it with 1 cup of chopped nuts.  You need to press them down into the batter a little or they'll tend to fall out after you roll it up.  I don't put nuts in mine.

   Bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes.  Turn onto a towel that has been generously sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Starting at the narrow end, roll the towel and cake together; cool.  Unroll and spread with the filling below.

   Filling-

   Combine:

   1 cup powdered sugar

   6 oz. cream cheese (I use a full 8 oz. package)

   4 Tbsp. butter or margarin

   1/2 tsp. vanilla (I use 1 tsp.)

  Beat smooth, spread over cake.  (Stay about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch away from the edges as it will spread when you roll it.)  Roll cake back up.  Chill. 

  I have added a section to the back of my cookbook called Fall Recipes I have so many that we love to eat in the fall!  One of our favorites is German Apple Cake.  We love it with Cream Cheese Frosting but it's also good with Penuche Frosting, Caramel Frosting or even the Browned Butter Frosting. 

   It's this time of year that I usually make UT Fudge.  Since our UT game days are over (the fans have all moved away!) I don't have as much fun making this for an event like I used to, but my family is still so in love with it.  It tastes like a Dreamsicle.

   I usually make a Maple Nut Twist this time of year.  It is a large breakfast sweet bread that you make on a round pizza pan.  You twist the outside edges of it and it's full of yummy cinnamon sugar and maple flavoring inside with a maple glaze.  My bunch usually all try to get the center out of it because it is so delicious.

   Also this time of year finds me making Pumpkin Doughnut Drops and sometimes even my Grandma Mettler's Long Johns.  Mmmmmmm.....

  Breadbaking is a given in this house but this time of year it gets better.  When you walk in a house on a fall day and the bread has just come out of the oven you can't resist going and cutting off the end of that warm bread, slathering it with butter and homemade strawberry jam or honey and slowly eating it!

  My mother's caramel corn seems to always show up this time of year too!  Can't do without an ice cream bucket full of that sitting around in the fall!

  We love soups and stews this time of year too.  Potato soup (in homemade bread bowls with lots of cheese on top) , Corn chowder, Chili, Beef Stew are just some of our favorites.

   I also make goulash with cornbread for my husband each fall.  He loves it any time of year but says it tastes better in the fall. 

   John loves projects and activities and last year we wanted to do this but my health didn't allow me much but the basics.  This year we're going to have a backyard campfire and try to learn to cook over the campfire.  I've already found the neatest afterdark craft we're going to have ready for our evening campfires. 

   It's found on this link and it is #9 of the projects.   I can't wait to see how pretty this is going to be in the dark.  We'll probably do several of them and make a perimeter around  our campfire area.

   http://toolsfortheimagination.com/2011/05/18/may-i-give-you-some-inspiration/

   I'm sure my older married children can remember how many times we took the rack out of my oven and put it over rocks on a campfire outside.  We even learned to cook breakfast in an iron skillet out there.  So much fun with kids.  Teach them some of the fun cowboy songs there are to sing or teach them the "Moose Song" that my grandkids like to sing with me!

http://www.campingdude.com/content/song/crazy_moose-1336.asp

     Well, that's my autumn musings for now...sure wish I could have everyone over for some of this fall food and atmosphere.  My husband just walked in and it's time for some vegetable soup with corn bread!

Love,

Mom

Salisbury Steak and Carrot Cake....

  I know I'm feeling better when I want to get into my kitchen and cook.  Last week the "bug" bit me and I had to have some home baked wheat bread.  I love the smell of the house when it's baking and Cierra and I can't resist eating the heel while it's warm and putting butter and honey on it.  Mmmmm..... This week's bread rose so beautifully and was especially good.  Three loaves are already gone!  (I did share some of it.)
   Then we were going to have company Thursday and I was trying to decide what to fix.  I hadn't made Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy in a while and we had eaten chicken the first two nights of the week, so everyone was in the mood for something different.  I got this recipe from a Campbells Soup recipe book my mom gave me years ago and we love it.  I double it and have tripled it.  It always turns out wonderful.  When company is coming I make it ahead of time and put it in the crock pot on low and it finishes cooking while I can work on something else!
  So here is the recipe:

Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy
1 can (10 1/2) oz. condensed onion soup  *(I buy the dry onion soup and make it up for this because it's cheaper and makes plenty if you need to double the recipe.)
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef (or ground venison, which is what I used this week)
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 tsp. salt
dash pepper
1 T. flour
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. prepared mustard

  Read the recipe carefully you don't use all the ingredients at once!  In bowl, combine 1/3 cup soup with beef, crumbs, egg, salt, pepper.  Shape into 6 oval patties.  In skillet, brown patties; pour off fat.  Gradually blend remaining soup into flour until smooth.  Add to skillet with remaining ingredients; stir to loosen browned bits.  Cover; cook over low heat 20 min. or until done.  Stir now and then.

  I meant to take a picture of both of these but forgot!  Maybe next time.  It is delicious!

  Our church had a dinner this Sunday and for my dessert I made Carrot Cake.  I usually make it on Easter Sunday but we're going to be gone this year so I decided to make it for the dinner.  My mom gave me this recipe and it is the best I've tasted.

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
1 1/4 cups salad oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 cup grated raw carrots
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
  Bake at 300 degrees for one hour.  (That's all my mom had on the card.  I like to make this into layers and found out the hard way to use three round pans if you do that!  Adjust the time to what kind of cake you are making.  I will not take as long in the layers as a 9x13 pan.)

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 stick butter
1 box powdered sugar (4 cups)

  I use 5-6 cups of powdered sugar and mix the above and then add a tiny little bit of milk at a time until it is spreading consistency.  If you use this much powdered sugar you will have plenty for a 3 layer cake.  If it's a 9x13 you probably could get by with 4 cups of the sugar.
  I always associate this cake with the spring for some reason and especially with Easter Sunday.  I also make a torte with a crunchy layer on the bottom, then a cream cheese layer, then a pudding layer and then cool whip on top.  I make butterscotch in the fall, chocolate in the winter, pistachio at Christmas (with maraschino cherries decorating the top), and lemon in the spring and summer.  I think it's wonderful  how we come to associate certain foods we eat with seasons. 
  That's all the recipes for now.  We got cake mixes at our local UGO for 50 cents each and I don't like cake mix cakes, so I've been playing with recipes that doctor them up.  I made a torte with one that was very, very good--I'll post that recipe later.
  I hope everyone is enjoying the beauty of the spring like we are.  Dogwoods, redbuds, birds singing, and life popping up everywhere on trees and in our yards.   Our Designer knows how to make us rejoice in the spring season with all His color and life.  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving is almost here...

  I love the entire holiday season and my husband loves the holiday that is coming up next week-Thanksgiving.   Because he loves it so I love to make Thanksgiving extra special for him.  This Thanksgiving we're going to have our oldest daughter Niki, her husband Brian and their two little ones with us, my dad and  Lela and her daughter Esther and Uncle Mike (Shockley) with us.  I'll love every moment of it.  (Though I wish I could blink and have every child and grandchild gathered into my kitchen.)
   We have the old faithful recipes that we cannot imagine a holiday dinner without---Turkey and dressing, Swiss Medley, Sweet Potato Casserole, Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Cheeseball and crackers, hot rolls, pecan pie and some kind of cheesecake for dessert. (This year is a toss up trying to decide between Pumpkin Praline and Reese Cup Cheesecake.) 
  I also like to try something new each year.  This year I'm trying two new recipes.  My pecan pie is going to be a chocolate pecan pie.  Esther brought me some really, really nice Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips and I decided to use one bag for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas.  So they're going to find their way into a chocolate pecan pie.  Then I found a recipe for some Cranberry Crumb Bars that sounds wonderful and very Thanksgiving-ish so I'm trying them.  Have to make lots of desserts so I can share!
  So how about an old recipe and a new recipe?  For the old I'm going to give you the Sweet Potato Casserole.  I'm sure many of you have had it since it's a Southern recipe, but till I moved south I had only had the sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top and I took just enough to be polite.  But when I tasted this one I was hooked, begged for the recipe shamelessly and made everyone that came to my house try it if it was on the table.  I've had more than one person that swore they hated sweet potatoes decide they hated sweet potatoes and loved this casserole and had one person tell me that if it wasn't bad manners they'd lick the pan when it was gone!  So here's my sweet potato casserole recipe given to me back in 1987!

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup margarine
Mix well.  Pour into shallow buttered casserole. (I use a 9x13 pan.)
Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup margarine
  Blend flour and sugar well and sprinkle on top.  Mix nuts and butter and sprinkle on top.
  (I mix all of the ingredients into one bowl instead of doing it separately like the recipe says.)  Bake at 350
degrees for 30 minutes.
I usually make this the day ahead and store it in the fridge so all I have to do is pop it in the oven.  I usually set it out in the morning and let it get to room temperature.  If not you have to give it a little extra baking time!

Now for my new recipe this year:

CRANBERRY CRUMB BARS
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup cold margarine
Filling:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 T. corn starch
1 T. brown sugar
1 can (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce
Topping:
1/3 cup flour
2 T. brown sugar
1/4 cup cold butter or margarine
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (I'm going to use pecans.)
  In bowl, combine flour and powdered sugar, cut in the butter until crumbly..  Press in a 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until light brown.  Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees.
   In bowl, beat cream cheese till smooth.  Add milk and lemon juice; mix well. Pour over crust.
   In bowl, combine corn starch and brown sugar.  Stir in cranberry sauce till combined.  Spoon over cream cheese layer.
   For topping, combine flour and brown sugar.  Cut in butter.  Fold in nuts.  Sprinkle over filling.
  Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes till topping is golden brown.  Cool on wire rack.  Cover and chill for 3 hours before cutting.  Yield: 12-15 servings. 
  I think they sound (and they looked) yummy!  If my 55 year old brain can retain this thought, I'll try to post pictures of both of these after Thanksgiving! 
  I am so thankful for the Lord's tender care of me all these years, I'm thankful for the wonderful, wonderful marriage He's given me, the children He gave us and then the bonus children He gave us, for giving me faith to believe Him and to trust His word, for the new truths He gives me every day in His word.
  I've been thinking of other things this last couple weeks...I've thought so much of my children and all they've taught me, for the blessing of seeing my grown children in church and serving the Lord with all their hearts, for the blessing of seeing my grandchildren receive Christ as their Saviour, I've thought of my brother and sisters and how precious they are to me and what wonderful memories I have of my life with them, of my nieces and nephews and just little snippets of memories have come floating back, (like MaryBeth staying with me after my foot surgery to help me), I've thought of so many people that have been used of the Lord to refresh Gary and I spiritually at just the right time, of my parents and my in-laws, of friends who have remained faithful to us through the years and the list could go on and on and on....
  I read aloud to our children at breakfast this week Abraham Lincoln's proclamation http://www.classicallibrary.org/lincoln/thanksgiving.htm   concerning Thanksgiving.  In it he makes sure the people know it is God who they had to thank for their blessings and God who they should fear for His judgment on our nation (the Civil War) for their unfaithfulness to Him. He recommended thanksgiving and repentance as a nation.  My, can you imagine what would happen today if a president made a proclamation like that? 
  It made me want to search my own heart for any idols or any lack of fear and reverence for a very real Almighty God. 
  As we enter Thanksgiving week, I pray that we all will recount our blessings before God and give Him thanks and that we all will search our hearts and ask Him to grant us repentance where we lack giving Him credit and thanks where they are due.  May each and every one of you have a wonderful Christ-honoring Thankgiving Day!
With love,
Mom

The Fall Season in the Interim of Our Lives...

  Well, here we are living in a "between" home during the holidays.  My husband is between pastorates and so we're living in a rented home.  It's absolutely perfect for us and I thank the Lord every day for giving us such a wonderful home to live in during this interim of our lives. 
  We have always lived in a parsonage and so we've never owned a home.  In our early days of ministry that bothered me a little but as I grew in years and in my spiritual life I began to see it as a blessing in our lives.  Then the Lord gave me a wonderful verse about being a "parsonage dweller".
" And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge was upon them, and the opening thereof every morning pertained to them. " (I Chron. 9:27)
  Since the Lord gave me that verse I have been very content with my home wherever the Lord might put me.  At this point He has us in a holding pattern in our lives until He gives us new and clear direction.  Needless to say this has altered our life and that includes the holiday period of our lives.
  I'm a true traditionalist.  I love things to be the same so my children and family look back and can say, "Do you remember how mom (Grandma, Aunt Tami, or whatever name fits) always made this or did this during the holidays?
  I also know that flexibility is good too.  This year I couldn't have found all my fall decorations if I tried so I decided to use nature and whatever else the Lord sent my way.  I won a little engraved pumpkin and a candle as prizes at the Wings Conference and the kids and I gathered acorns and pinecones from our yard.   I have a beautiful fireplace mantel and I wanted to decorate it for fall and little by little it was filled with beautiful fall decor. 

  Since I took this picture the Lord even added a beautiful fall vine with berries and leaves and a sign that says "Give Thanks".  My husband and children have all mentioned how pretty the mantel looks.  Thank You Lord!
   This time of year I feel an excitement building up in me.  It's time for the holidays.  I can't resist getting the cookbooks out and while we sit in the living room watching a movie I'm marking the ones I want to try to make.  This year for Thanksgiving I decided we'd have to have the pumpkin cake I made at Jennibeth's house when we spent Thanksgiving with them.
  It was after Thanksgiving and she and I were wanting to make a dessert but we'd about emptied the pantry out for Thanksgiving.  We went scavengering and found a can of pumpkin.  I'd gone through some of her cookbooks and found a recipe that called for just flour, sugar, eggs, pumpkin and spices so that was the choice.  It called for cream cheese frosting and we didn't have cream cheese so I made cooked caramel (I call it penuche but nobody knows what that is) frosting on it.  Oh, my goodness!  It was SO good and became a Thanksgiving keeper at the Neals!
    Here's the recipe:
PUMPKIN CAKE
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin
2 cups flour, sifted
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cinnamon
   Combine sugar and oil.  Add eggs separately, beating well to combine.  Add flour, soda, salt and cinnamon to sugar mixture.  Blend thoroughly.  Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes in pans which have been greased and floured.  Makes three (3) 9" round layers.

Now for the frosting.
COOKED CARAMEL FROSTING (EASY PENUCHE FROSTING)
(For this cake I use a double recipe.  You can double it if you want, but you'll need a strong arm or a helper in the beating stage! :)

1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter or margarine in saucepan.  Stir in brown sugar.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir over low heat for 2 minutes.  Stir in milk; heat to boiling.  Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
Gradually stir in powdered sugar.  Place pan of frosting in bowl of ice and water; beat until its of spreading consistency.  If frosting becomes too stiff just heat slightly stirring constantly.

  This is a wonderful three layer cake!  The one in the picture has an extra batch of icing on it.  (I do one batch for the layers and 1 1/2 batches for the outside because our family likes lots of the icing! )
  I have a little recipe holder with all my very favorite holiday recipes in it.  Our Christmas punch recipe, cheeseball recipes, spinach dip, sausage bites, baked macaroni and cheese, Swiss medley (a wonderful full-of-cheese side  dish with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mushroom soup, sour cream and Durkees onions), sweet potato casserole that a died-in-the-wool sweet potato hater will love, all my specialty cheesecake recipes, peanut butter pie, every truffle and fudge recipe you can imagine and the list goes on and on and on in it.  My head is already dancing with new ideas to try this year.  Can't wait to see what the Lord has in store.  I have a new cake ball truffle recipe I wanted to try and someone already brought me some dark chocolate chips they found on clearance.  They're tucked back to become truffles!
  Because of my love of cooking I like to use fall/holiday baking as an excuse to stop by the neighbors with a pie pan full of goodies and a chance to talk to them.  We have a couple near us with failing health and I so want the Lord to use us in their lives.  I love it when you knock on a neighbor's door and you can see genuine happiness in their eyes when they open the door and see you standing there.  It's also an opportunity to teach our children to help others around us. 
  John asked me the other day when I was going to be taking the neighbors some goodies and I told him probably this week.  He said, "Can we take some to the neighbors with the new kittens, because maybe they'll let me see them when we go!"  That struck my funny bone!
  We're going to have Brian and Niki with Halle and Evan for Thanksgiving this year and I'm so excited about that.  I like a FULL dining room table.  The more I have at the table the happier I am!  Niki and I are already talking about what we want to have.  She's planning on bringing a new pie recipe she found and I'm planning on--well, I can't make up my mind!  Too many good things to choose from!
  I also am working on Christmas projects this year.  The main one that I'm working on is making little nurse's costumes for the little girls in my life.  When Niki and Alicia were little my mom made them a nurse's apron and then I made them little hats out of paper.  Every time someone got sick at our house we made the couch up into a hospital bed, stuck the humidifier next to the couch (sometimes complete with tent) and the girls became nurses.
  Mike Shockley says his first memory of my girls was coming into the house to visit us and one of the boys was sick.  He said he remember Niki and Alicia running around in their little nurses costumes and bringing them their needs on a cookie sheet with a tea towel over it.  (All meals were served in the hospital bed when you were sick.)  They loved being nurses! 
  So maybe it's memory lane for me but I wanted to make the granddaughters their own nurses costume.  My pattern is a really old one but it's so cute.  On the cover the little girl has a white turtleneck on and white tights so she looks like the old-fashioned nurse of my childhood that's dressed in all white.  I have Halle's all done but getting the waist and hat fit to her perfect size.  They're quick to sew and take very little fabric.  That's good for the budget!

  

So tonight I'm listening to Old Fashioned Christian Radio, and thinking about the wonderful blessings of a sweet Christian home, good food, the wonder of fall sunsets, leaves crunching under your feet, having the blessing of grown children, grandchildren and children still around me to fellowship with each and every day, the joy of being a woman, wife, mother and grandmother and so many, many other blessings.  How can we begin to thank the Lord for his daily benefits! 

  I pray you're having a wonderful fall season and that your walk with the Lord is real and personal.  May God bless you all!

With love,

Mom



  
 

Fall Cookin"...

  The air has a different feel to it.  When I step on the porch in the morning the air is cooler and it is stirring differently in the trees.  The light through the trees that comes into my bedroom is a different shade of green--it's signalling the change of a season.  I'm so ready for the brisk days and nights and for opening the windows again and letting the cool air come through our home.
   At breakfast about two weeks ago I asked the kids what they thought of when they thought of fall meals.  They mentioned Cheesy Potato Soup, Chili, Corn Chowder (the potato soup or the chowder are served in bread bowls sometimes), Beef Stew,Taco Soup, Pot pie, Goulash with piping hot corn bread on the side, deer tenderloin fried and then  baked with warm brown gravy around it, Rotel, and other hearty comfort foods. 
  I start wanting to make my favorite desserts made with apples, pumpkins and oatmeal.  I think of desserts with caramel flavor and lots of cinnamon.  Mmmmm....out come the cookbooks and I pull out my Maple Nut Twist breakfast bread, Pumpkin Roll, Little Debbie Oatmeal Cakes (homebaked), German Apple Cake, Apple Crisp, Apple Dumplings, Monster Cookies, Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake, Pecan Pie, Spice Cake with Cooked Caramel Frosting and Pumpkin Doughnut Drops. 
  Last year I made a delicious pumpkin cake out of Jennibeth's cookbook "Dining with Pioneers Volume II". 
We had celebrated Thanksgiving together and had just about emptied out the pantry and we were looking for something to make with what was left.  She said she had a can of pumpkin left so I dug through the cookbooks and found this recipe.  It mentioned cream cheese frosting but we didn't have cream cheese so I made the cooked caramel frosting and we put it on it.  (I did a double batch since it was a three layer cake.)
It was SOOOO good!
  So in celebration of the beginning of fall I'm going to put the recipe on here for Pumpkin Cake with Cooked Caramel Frosting.  Enjoy!  I'm planning on making it in the next couple weeks and will try to add a picture here then.
  
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cinnamon
  Combine sugar and oil.  Add eggs separately, beating well to combine.  Add flour, soda, salt and cinnnamon to sugar mixture.  Blend thoroughly.  Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes in pans that have been greased and floured.   Makes three (3) 9" round layers.

Cooked Caramel Frosting (or Easy Penuche Frosting)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar
  Melt butter or margarine.  Stir in brown sugar.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir over low heat for two minutes.  Stir in milk, heat to boiling.  Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
  Gradually, stir in powdered sugar.  Place pan of frosting in bowl of ice and water; beat until it's of spreading consistency.  If frosting becomes too stiff, heat slightly, stirring constantly.
*Remember-I double this for this cake.
   What's your favorite fall recipe?  Is there something you just have to have before the season is over?  We love food traditions at our house and these are some that we cannot imagine not having at the table this time of the year.  I hope you're enjoying the beautiful weather, the changes and the plans of the season!  Isn't God good to give us wonderful changes and such a beautiful creation?  Enjoy, enjoy!

Homemade bread (low in calories and delicious!)

My mother and grandmother always told me it was the German in my blood, but whatever the reason, I love bread! I love artisan breads, I love huge warm loaves of whole wheat bread, I love focaccia bread (especially on Panera's sandwiches!), I love warm loaves of crusty bread with tender melt-in-your mouth bread inside of the crust--I love bread!

I also love kneading bread. I had a bread machine given to me years ago and it sat unused because I didn't like the texture of the bread and I certainly didn't want a machine taking away the pleasure of standing at the counter and feeling the bread becoming "perfect". Kneading bread and hanging out clothes are two very real therapies in my life. (Anyone care to psychoanalyze me on those?)

With all that said I'll get to this week's bread adventure! Since we moved to Crossville I had tried to make my wonderful, high-rising, Honey Wheat Bread from Weight Watcher's Annual Recipes for Success 2000 book. It is a delicious bread and you can eat a good slice for only 1 Weight Watchers point. It slices well for sandwiches and toast and it is out of this world fresh out of the oven with real butter and honey on it. (the heel please!)

The first time I tried it I was shocked to bring out of the oven a heavy, odd-textured bread. I knew I was in trouble with the feel of the dough and also the lack of quick rising it usually gives me.

I tried it again about two weeks later thinking it was the change in altitude. However, when I read up on that you should be adjusting to the bread rising quicker than normal-not laying in the bowl like a "deadbread"! Sure enough, I had the same sick bread as the first time.

Now I don't like wasting food so it was put in the freezer for making a chicken dressing or some other way of disguising a food that otherwise wouldn't be eaten!

The next time I thought I had it figured out---possibly the fact I'd replaced the half and half with skim milk! (I couldn't afford half and half at the time.) Tried it again and figured the half and half into the food budget. It flopped!

Next thought--"Oh no! I can't bake bread at this house! Something's wrong with the humidity or something here!" Dumb thought, I knew that wasn't true, I've baked bread every house I've lived in with success.

So then I remembered that the bread flour I was using was given to me and it had been stored in a freezer. I've stored flour in a freezer lots of times but never bread flour and I had no idea how long that lady had kept it in her freezer.

So I went and bought a bag of all-purpose flour (couldn't afford bread flour) and got out my faithful gluten that I use in my breads. Researched online and found out I needed to put 1 T. of gluten in each cup of all-purpose flour, I used regular skim milk but added 2-3 T. of butter (need that fat!) and tried it again. Awwww..... it is so good. I wish all of you could have been here and enjoyed that bread with us. The kids love it and we don't feel guilty enjoying it.

Just a little comparison with my other breads. My whole wheat bread (which is so good--my sister Kristi gets the praise for giving me that recipe.) is 2.5 Weight Watchers points per slice. Well worth it if you're not on a diet. Most slices of store bought bread are about 100-110 calories a slice unless you know just what you're looking for.

Even with my adjustments this bread still comes out just 1 point or about 70 calories a slice. (has low fat and a gram of fiber) I intend to play with it more. Try upping the whole wheat (with added gluten) and seeing if we can up the fiber a little more. The picture here you will see it looks like white bread--that's because I am using a white whole wheat flour I got on clearance!

Ok--here's the recipe! Enjoy!

Honey Wheat Bread

2 pkgs. dry yeast (I buy bulk yeast at the Mennonite general store)

1/3 cup honey (ditto-I buy honey by the gallon at the Mennonite Community)

1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

1 cup half and half (I've also used low fat half and half and it worked just fine) *I have to limit fat to between 20-30 grams per day for health reasons. (And eat "good" fat.)

4 lg. eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 tsps. salt

4 3/4 cups bread flour

Cooking spray

1. Dissolve yeast and honey in warm water in mixing bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add half-and-half and eggs; beat at medium speed of a heavy-duty stand mixer until well blended. Add

whole-wheat flour and salt, beating well. Stir in bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a soft dough.

2. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).

3. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees) free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

4. Punch dough down; turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 4 or 5 times. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Working with one portion at a a time (cover remaining dough to keep it from drying out), roll each portion into a 12- x 8-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll up each rectangle tightly, starting with a short side. Press firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam and ends to seal. Place each roll of dough, seam side down, in an 8- x 4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.

5. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

7. Bake bread at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove bread from pans immediately, and let cool on wire racks. YIELD: 3 loaves. 48 servings (serving size 1/2-inch slice).

NOTE: You may use a dough hook and a heavy-duty stand mixer for kneading, if desired.

* My note--don't try to use a mixer unless you have a heavy duty mixer!

**I bake two loaves of bread and make 12 rolls in a round cake pan. They rise so pretty and you get a huge roll with your homemade supper you've made for your family for 1 point (compared to 3-7 points for regular dinner rolls.) I would have pictures but we consumed them with our salisbury steak and gravy supper before I thought of the camera! :)

***If you aren't sure when to stop putting flour in (because the weather really affects this) then stop when it begins pulling away from the sides of the bowl or when it quits being really sticky. However, it's better to stop when it's a little too wet (and knead the flour in) then to let it get too dry.

Well, daughters, that's about it for today. I have the cutest sewing project (mother-daughter) that Cierra and I tackled two weeks ago I keep putting on here--but that's another blog!

Breakfast time on the homeschool range...

This family is a family of breakfast eaters. My husband is of the firm opinion that if a man doesn't eat breakfast it's because a female in the family trained him out of it. He (and almost all our children) wake up with food on their mind.

During the summer no one is sitting at the table ready to eat at 8:00 a.m. However, once school starts I wants breakfast cleaned up and forgotten by 8:30 a.m. so we can get the business of the day in full swing.

Some of the menu ideas we like are:

• Ham, Sausage or Bacon with fried eggs and bread of some kind. (toast, pancakes, waffles, muffins, sweet rolls or biscuits.


• Sausage gravy and biscuits


• English muffins with egg, meat of some kind and cheese made into a sandwich


• A big skillet of scrambled eggs topped with cheese and served with Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits


• Omelettes made to order


• Quiche


• Overnight Breakfast casserole


• French toast

If you make breakfast you know how long it takes to make waffles or muffins or coffee cake in the morning. Here are a few of the things I do to make shortcuts and not have to get up at 4:00 a.m. :) to have a good breakfast for the family.

• Keep ziplock bags full of diced peppers in your freezer and a ziplock bag full of diced onion in the fridge. When you're making omelettes it's just as simple as getting the bags out and sprinkling what you want on each person's omelette.


• Have all the items for quiche ready to go the night before where you just put them in the pie shell and stick it in the oven at the right time.


• Make the cinnamon rolls from Pioneer woman's site (they're wonderful) and keep them in your freezer. The night before set them out to thaw and the next morning warm them in the oven. (It makes 7 round pans of them!)http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/ Any yeast bread will do fine being frozen ahead of time. (Have I mentioned my all time favorite sweet bread called Cream Cheese Braids?


• When you make biscuits double or triple your recipe and freeze the extra ones. Then use them just like the ones you buy at WalMart and pay too much money for!


• Prefry your sausage for the sausage gravy and stick it in a freezer cup for when you need it. Put it in the fridge the night before and your good to go!


• Make up powdered milk and stick it in the fridge for cooking. I use it for gravies too.


• Make a double batch of waffles (just keep baking them during breakfast) and put the extras in gallon freezer bags. Then on a busy day you can just toast the frozen ones! (and don't forget to do all kinds of varieties with the waffles. Our last ones had banana, nuts and cinnamon in them.....mmmm.

Breakfast is brain food. Starting the day with a good meal is a good habit to get to develop for the family. It also starts the day around the table together. It makes good memories for the children. (Later they'll realize how special this really was.)

With fall coming I'm already pulling out the recipes for Pumpkin Drop Doughnuts, Monkey Bread, Apple Cinnamon Rolls and other fall favorites. Start a breakfast file in your cookbook today!

Asher and Mom's Cheesecake Creation....

Yesterday was our son Asher's 18th birthday. It's almost impossible to believe that it was 18 years ago we brought this tiny baby home from the hospital and now he's a big, strapping young man.

We always let the kids pick what dessert (cake or anything else they want) for their birthday. Asher almost always chooses a cheesecake. He and I both love cheesecake and on other birthdays we have made Reece Cup Cheesecake, Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake, and Turtle Cheesecake. This year he couldn't decide what sounded good so I suggested he "design" his own. We discussed several different ideas and then he decided on my making a cheesecake that was a copy of a Zero candy bar.

So we decided on a cheesecake with a chocolate crust, a nice light chocolate inside and a white chocolate ganache on top with nuts sprinkled on it. I dug out several favorite cheesecake recipes and here's what we ended up with!

The result was absolutely delicious. It didn't last long around here because we had a birthday dinner for Asher last night and everyone ate on the cheesecake after supper.

Our birthday menu was made entirely by Asher. I have to say he did a good job on his dinner choices. We had barbequed chicken, cucumber salads (one creamy and one in vinegar), two different pasta salads, green beans, carrots, and fresh-from-the-garden corn on the cob. For bread I made piping hot biscuits served with butter and homemade jams. For dessert, it was Zero Bar Cheesecake by Asher and mom and watermelon. It was a feast fit for a--birthday boy!

We got Asher a new digital camera for his birthday. He is wanting to document his senior year in high school and make his own yearbook. Sounds fun to me!

I just want to stop right here and thank the Lord for giving us Asher. He's our first adopted child. We named him Asher because it means "how blessed" and we wanted that to stand for our blessing in the Lord giving him to us and us being a blessing to him in raising him.

It has turned out just that way. He received the Lord as his Savior at a very young age and has

always had a tender and sensitive conscience toward the Lord. What a blessing for us as parents.

Well, with all that said, how about my giving you the recipe for Asher's Zero Bar Cheesecake!

Crust:

2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs

1/2 cup margarine (melted)

4 Tbsp. light brown sugar

pinch of salt

I use an oreo-type cookie and scrape out the filling and then finely crush (or use your food processor) the cookies till you have 2 cups of crumbs. It takes about two rows of the cookies and then I put all the extra stuffing into the cookies I have left and the kids eat double-or-triple stuffed oreos at their bedtime snack!

Grease your springform pan and then mix the crumbs, melted margarine, brown sugar and pinch of salt and press this mixture evenly in the bottom of your springform pan. Bake until set. Most recipes say 8-10 minutes but I've found this is too long. Bake it at 350 degrees and after you take the crust out of the oven turn your oven down to 325 degrees.

Filling:

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup whipping cream

3 pkgs. (8 oz.) cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup baking cocoa

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, melt chocolate chips over low heat. Stir them till smooth and then remove from heat and add the whipping cream. Set this aside.

In your mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until blended well. Add the cocoa and beat well. Now add the eggs, (with mixer on low) one at a time. Blend just until combined. Stir in the vanilla and the reserved chocolate mixture. Stir just until blended. Pour this over the crust and bake for 45-50 minutes or just until the center is almost set.

Topping:

1 bag of white chocolate chips (divided)

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla

2 oz. chopped nuts

For topping, melt 1 1/2 cups of the white chocolate chips in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly and until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the whipping cream and vanilla. Spread over baked filling, then take the rest of the chips and sprinkle over the topping. Sprinkle the chopped nuts over topping too. Refrigerate overnight. Carefully run a knife around the edge when ready to take sides off. (I dip the knife in hot water!) Just before serving you can put whipped cream on it for decoration if you want.

Enjoy!

Our son Asher on his 18th birthday!

Recipe time!

I guess I should have some kind of method as far as which day I talk about which thing, and I'm working on that....blogging and I are relatively new.

Today I made Oatmeal Sandwich cookies. They are one of our favorites in this household. I would guess Chocolate Chip and Monster Cookies run a tie with them depending on who you ask!...

...Or maybe Oatmeal Raisin.. or if you asked my husband it would be a tie with the Monster Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies. Oh well, I guess you could say that this bunch loves home baked cookies.

Back to today's cookies-I first discovered them in a cookbook at my daughter Alicia's house and made them for her children when I was staying with them when Audrey was born. They were a hit! We all said, "Little Debbie, eat your heart out!" (and I love Little Debbie oatmeal cakes!)

These take a lot of shortening so go buy you a new can! The filling is wonderful and the cookies are chewy on the inside and a little crunch on the edges...can you smell the cinnamon? Be sure and follow the rule of baking cookies--slightly underbake your cookies.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cup shortening

2 2/3 cups packed brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

4 cups old-fashioned oatmeal (I've used regular oats and they're not quite as good.)

Filling:

3/4 cup shortening

3 cups powdered sugar

1 jar (7 oz.) marshmellow creme

1-3 Tbsp. milk

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; add to creamed mixture. Stir in oats. Drop by rounded spoonfuls 2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10- 12 minutes. (I bake mine 8 minutes.)

For filling, in a mixing bowl, cream shortening, sugar and marshmallow creme. Add enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Spread filliing on the bottom half of the cookie; and top with remaining cookie.

Give these a try! They make a large batch and your kids will love them. Give your children an adulthood memories of mom making warm, wonderful baked goods for them. They're worth it!

Neal's Bakery...Mmmmm, it smells good here!

When I'm baking I think I love baking more than any of my household chores, but then when I'm sewing I think that's my favorite part of homemaking. This week I've spent my evenings finishing the handwork on a beautiful baby dress, (Adalyn gets this one!) but I've spent just as much time in the kitchen making wonderful baked goods and oh my, the house has had the most wonderful aroma. I love it when people at my door comment on how they could smell the warm breads before they got to the door!

Monday I made my usual batch of sourdough bread. They're getting better all the time. Practice does make perfect! The sourdough bread is what I'm allowed on my diet and one round loaf lasts me all week. (I even share some!)

Tuesday was the homemade wheat bread. It's for the children to have for healthy snacks. I'm not sure how healthy it is after they warm it and put butter and jelly or honey on it, but it's better than candy, that's for sure!

Then I decided to try a new recipe for Cinnamon Rolls that I got from the internet. They caught my attention because they looked like the good old fashioned cinnamon rolls that I love and because they made seven pans of rolls! Perfect! I can bake some for eating and put the rest in the freezer for mornings when I just want to make up a skillet of scrambled eggs with cheese and warm some cinnamon rolls. I could tell the frosting was maple frosting and we all love that.

I love to roll dough out on my breakfast bar, I love flour on my apron (and the floor), I love the feel of the dough under my hands. I believe that the only way to get good at breads (rather it is biscuits or yeast breads) is to make them and make them. The reason I believe this is you learn to know the feel of the dough--it will tell you rather it's going to be good or not! I know exactly when the biscuits are going to be perfect by the feel of the dough. Yeast breads are the same way.

It thrilled me to see seven pans of cinnamon rolls lined down the breakfast bar. Not only were they pretty everyone agreed they were the best cinnamon rolls that I had ever made. They even thought they were better than my copycat Cinnabun recipe!

Four of the pans went into gallon freezer bags and were put away for another breakfast and three of them stayed in the kitchen for sampling and breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.

If you want to try them here's the recipe link:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

Then it was time for my next Spring Sunday dinner dessert. I dug out the Strawberry Cake recipe that I found last year. It is so yummy but very simple. You use a strawberry cake for your base and add jello, strawberries, etc. and then make a wonderful cream cheese frosting and put on it. Gary says that it runs a close second to Spice Cake with Caramel Frosting, which has always been his favorite. Now that's saying something!

So, that's the news from Neal's bakery for this week. We've been told that about 400-700 dump trucks will be going by our house as they carry the ash sludge out and I told the family I'm seriously considering putting a sign out in front of the house advertising what I've baked that day with the cost per serving and offer it with a nice hot cup of coffee. Who knows I might get rich off of something I love to do! :)

When I became a wife I decided to be the best I could possibly be at every facet of my job. So I've worked hard at learning to do the highest quality job I could afford to do rather it was laundry, cooking, cleaning, homeschooling, decorating or sewing. I often tell my children how wonderful and varied my chosen calling and "career" is. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the whole wide world.

So, what's going to be baked at your house this week? Put on your apron and give your family something to enjoy. You'll be glad you did!

Yummy Muffins...

At each season change I pull the cookbooks out and begin to dig. I'm looking for old favorites and some new ones to try. Spring always has me digging out salad recipes, lighter desserts, recipes with ham, (Easter leftovers), and recipes with lots of color. Some of the tried and true that will be marching onto our plates will be Spring Strawberry Layer Cake, Lemon Torte, Quiche Lorraine, Iced Shortbread cookies, and homemade chicken strips.

This time I'll be looking for pea salad, some new breakfast rolls and muffins, new sandwiches to try and digging out the barbeque recipes because the grill is coming out of hibernation!

This week's "new recipe" was some wonderful muffins called Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins. John bought me a jumbo muffin tin for Christmas and so I've been on the quest for recipes that taste as good as Perkins restaurants muffins. This recipe was a definite "we'll be doing this again..and again...and again..." success.

Here's the link so you can print it off:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/simply-sinful-cinnamon-muffins-recipe

The recipe sounds complicated but it isn't. It also is one that you can play with. I used white chocolate chip morsels instead of cinnamon or butterscotch morsels. If you get a chance try out these delicious muffins. You're family will thank you.