Tuesday, September 22, 2009

play dough




2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons alum
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
liquid food coloring

Pour dry ingredients into large pan. Stir together to mix. Stir oil and food coloring into the water. Pour liquid into the dry ingredients while mixing, squeezing and kneading the playdough. If too sticky, add more flour. Keeps best in the fridge.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

new hat

All of a sudden it is definitely fall - very glad I finished Charlie's hat last weekend. It is from a free ravelry pattern "Baby Tri-Peak Hat." I had never done a tripeak hat - very fun and easy!



showing Papa his new hat

Thursday, September 17, 2009

individual meatloaf "muffins"

I stole 2 ideas here - Carrie's yummy recipe (hope you don't mind my cutting and pasting the recipe!), and Rachael Ray's muffin pan for meatloaf idea. It worked great - faster cooking time (25 minutes), and easy to toss leftovers in the freezer for another dinner. I also used half beef half lamb as my store was out of ground turkey.

Turkey and Apricot Meatloaf

posted by admin on sep 05 2009 | poultry

  • This might be the best, most moist meatloaf ever. Delicious!! I freeze and pull out for an easy dinner. From Gourmet.com.
  • 1 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (from 2 slices white sandwich bread)
  • 1/3 cup whole milk
  • 2 medium celery ribs, finely chopped
  • 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 lb ground dark-meat turkey
  • 1/2 cup dried California apricots, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 3 tablespoons apricot preserves, divided
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
  • Soak bread crumbs in milk in a large bowl.
  • Meanwhile, cook celery, carrot, onion, and garlic with chile powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add to bread-crumb mixture with turkey, dried apricots, parsley, 1 tablespoon preserves, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, eggs, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and mix with your hands until just combined. Form into a 9- by 5-inch oval loaf (mixture will spread slightly) in a 13- by 9-inch shallow baking dish.
  • Stir together water, remaining 2 tablespoons preserves, and remaining 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce and brush over surface of meatloaf. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 165°F, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Monday, September 14, 2009

tamale pie

Wow - the ultimate comfort food (if you are a lover of grits and cornbread such as I am - I know, a Mainer who loves grits. Who was I in a former life, anyway?)

Friday, September 11, 2009

busy night


10 jars of bread and butter pickles and some lavender rose cleanser. Weird combo, but 2 great creations! Too tired to post recipes. Used Organic Body Care book again (great book!) and recipe from my canning class back in July.

Monday, September 7, 2009

maple oatmeal scones





I had a scone at the farmer's market and it was yummy, so I had to make some of my own, with my little helper, of course. Here's the recipe I used...

Whole Grain Maple Oatmeal Scones

Ingredients 1 1/3 cup oat flour (such as Arrowhead Mills brand; if you can’t find that substitute King Arthur white whole wheat flour) 1 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking) 1 tbsp baking powder 3/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup brown sugar 8 tbsp (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1/3 cup milk 1/3 cup yogurt (preferably Greek or whole-milk) 2 tbsp pure maple syrup

*Note: you can substitute 2/3 buttermilk for the milk + yogurt if you’d rather.

For brushing and sprinkling on top of the scones: 1 tbsp milk 1 tbsp maple syrup 2 tbsp oats

Directions Preheat the oven to 400.

Whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl, then transfer that mixture to the bowl of a food processor. Add the oats and pulse in short bursts (1 sec each) about 15 times. Drop in the pieces of cold butter and pulse again in short bursts until coarse meal forms, about another 15 pulses.

Transfer this mixture back into the large bowl. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk, yogurt and maple syrup. Pour the liquid into the flour/oat/butter mixture, and stir gently with a fork until it’s moistened and starts to come together. Using your hand, gather the dough into a ball right in the bowl and knead it a few times against the side of the bowl to bring the dough together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a 3/4-inch thick circle. Using a sharp knife, cut like a pie into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

Whisk together 1 tbsp milk and 1 tbsp maple syrup in a little bowl. Brush the tops of the scones with this mixture, then sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp oats across the tops of the scones.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. Cool on a rack.

Makes 8.