Sunday dinner....chowder

 

It's another really cold day here in the country and so it seemed like the perfect day to prepare a chowder for our Sunday Dinner.  I already had chicken broth in the frig reserved from a baked chicken.  I used the bones left over and made broth with them.  I had a little bacon that would not make a breakfast meal, so that was used up.  Isn't it interesting that so often a soup is made from the remains of another meal, and yet it is one of the most comforting foods of the home?  Homemade is surely the best and is really no trick to prepare.  The ingredients here can be changed up according to your tastes or according to what you find in your refrigerator.  I think some white beans would have been a nice addition.

This creamy corn chowder can be made in about a half hour, but could also be slow-cooked in a crock pot.

Creamy Corn Chowder

6 slices bacon, chopped or snipped with scissors

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped (or any other color)

4-5 large potatoes, chopped into small chunks

1 lb. whole kernel corn (off the cob or frozen)

1/2 c. celery, chopped (or 1/2 t. celery seed)

1 T chopped garlic

1 medium zucchini, chopped (opt)

1 bay leaf

1 t. smoked paprika (or plain)

1 t. thyme (fresh or 1/2 t. ground)

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 qt. chicken broth

1/4 c. flour

1 c. milk

1/2 c. cream (or half and half)

chopped parsley, fresh or dried

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

croutons to pass

In a soup pot, fry the bacon until crispy.  Remove from pan and set aside to drain on paper towel.  In the drippings, saute the onion, pepper, potatoes, celery, zucchini.  When onions are tender, add in the garlic, paprika, red peppers, thyme and bay leaf.  Saute another minute or two.  Add corn.  Sprinkle flour into the pot and stir for about a minute.  Add chicken broth and bring up to the boil.  Turn heat to low and simmer about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Lastly, add milk and cream and heat through. Add bacon back to the chowder at the end of cooking. Taste and season with S&P.  

Pass croutons at the table.

Serves 4-5 generously.

*If you were to make this in the crock pot, add everything to the pot except the cooked bacon, milk and cream.  Cook on low several hours or until potatoes are tender.  Add milk and cream an hour before serving, turn crock pot to high and heat through.  Add cooked bacon and serve.

“Good soup is one of the prime ingredients of good living.  For soup can do more to lift the spirits and stimulate the appetite than any other one dish.”
Louis P. De Gouy, The Soup Book (1949)

Morning and Evening....

 

 

The sky was gorgeous this morning as I looked up after feeding the cows.

 

Tonight's the Full Wolf Moon and astronomers say that the moon will be closer to the earth than any other day of 2010.  Indians named the January full moon "Wolf Moon" due to the harsh winter days of January when  hungry wolves howled outside their villages.  

It was a perfect night for a night walk.  It was calm, clear, quiet and bright.  It was as if God had the perfect night light just for me.  Whenever I see the moon it reminds me of this song.

Cuppycake...

 

 It's homemade

It's sweet

It's made entirely of felt

I call it my Cuppycake

You can find the nice 

cupcake tutorial

here.

 

 It's my Second Mom's 60th Birthday

This is for her.

I think the cuppycake would make a nice

Valentine too.

paper, scissors, glue

Tis the season to change calendars and buy new ones.  I still need to buy a new one or two.  I always hang the great big calendar that we get from Alerdman Oil because it has huge dates and generous squares to write in.  The pictures are always pretty too.  I love a large calendar to write in.  It's practically a journal of the year by the time we are done with it.

While visiting at Angry Chicken a few days ago, I found a nifty project to recycle those pretty calendars we all must eventually throw away.  I decided that I, too, would recycle my old calendars into greeting cards.  I hardly ever have my own clever ideas, but find brilliant ideas all over the place.  I hardly have to do any thinking this way!  Besides, they say that copying is the best form of complimenting someone....as long as you aren't stealing their copyright.  That reminds me of something Amy did with her cards.  She gave credit to the artist whose art was recycled onto her newly made cards.  I did that too even though Monet will never know I used is calendar art.  Here is Amy Karol's DIY project.  I followed her lead and did mine much the same way -- glue pictures onto the card stock and then trim.  I used a new-to-me glue by Martha Stewart called Create Gel Adhesive that I found in the scrapbook aisle at W-mart.  It's nice stuff.  I felt almost as if I was back in kindergarten today.....playing with paper and scissors and glue.  The best part.....I have some sweet greeting cards to restock my supply.

Winter windows and mini lemon cheesecakes...

Last night looking out the kitchen window.

The snow looks so pretty resting in the corners of the panes.

This morning

It's still snowing and blowing

It doesn't seem so pretty anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Trying a new recipe for dessert tonight.

Mini-Lemon Cheesecakes

from Maryjanes Farm

Since I didn't have the chocolate cookies for the crust,

I made the Chocolate Snap Cookies

as MJ suggested.

The recipe is "gluten free" in the original recipe but I'm using flour.

The little choco cookies are terrific!

And easy!

I'm just pressing the whole cookie into the bottom of a lined muffin tin and pouring the lemon cheesecake filling inside.  The recipe calls for frosting, but instead, I'll just shave a little lemon zest on top of each on.

I set one of the chocolate cookies beside the mini-cheesecake just because I thought they had such pretty crackle tops and they go unseen at the bottom of the cake.

I can't wait for dessert!

Sunday goings-on...

Today we're under a blizzard warning  and so everybody's been indoors doing things.  The guys have mostly been on the couch watching football and I have been puttering around in the kitchen.  I had wanted to try to make some rosemary maple-glazed nuts and so I gave that a whirl.  They would have been so good, but the last step of baking them in the oven turned out to be much too long and the nuts have a burnt taste to them, even tho they are still pretty good eating.  Note to self:  the next batch gets only 10 minutes in the oven.  I thought about doing something with the half sack of peanuts and decided to make peanut brittle.  (I love peanut brittle)  I used a microwave recipe for it and made it according to the directions.  The time before when I made it, I cooked the sugars first and added the peanuts later in the cooking process so guess what?  It burned.  Bah!  Note to self:  Cook sugars first, then add peanuts.
 

Tom asked me to make some divinity.  I usually don't make that.  The boys always have in the past and they're good at making it.  I gave it a try. It was just OK.  Nothing fabulous, but Hubs and J. are eating it up.  I'm not a huge fan of divinity anyway.

On a good note.....J (youngest child) and I are starting Cooking School, that's what I'm calling my cooking lessons for a young man who needs a few basic cooking skills under his belt.  I think it's important that every man learns to cook a few good things to feed himself.  Our first lesson was last night and we threw together a dandy roast beef hash.  We chopped up left-over roast beef and the potatoes, added in some peppers, onions, garlic, and mushrooms and sauteed it in the cast iron skillet in some olive oil.  Deee-lish-ious!  Today we made Mandarin Chicken -- J's request for lunch -- and served it over hot rice.  YUM!  Definitely a do-again.  We did alter this recipe too.  Both of us decided it needed a whole sliced onion and a tiny bit of lemon zest,  and we decreased the sugar to 1/4 cup.  We also added in a tablespoon of Hoisen Sauce and at the end, threw in a handful of cashews.  

Another recipe I tried today is one for homemade deodorant.  I know.....weird.  But I'm one of those people who always stinks and I thought that maybe trying something different would help.  The authors of the recipes I found all swore that the homemade stuff worked very well, so I stirred up a batch this afternoon.  I tweaked two recipes, this one and this one, so that I could use the ingredients I had on hand.  Now to test it out over a few weeks and see what it does!

Here's my original recipe based on their recipes.

Busy Bee Deodorant

1 t. beeswax beads
3 T. virgin coconut oil
3 T. corn starch (or arrow root powder)
3 T. baking soda
2 capsules of vitamin E oil
essential oil for fragrance (opt)

In a pyrex measuring cup or bowl, melt beeswax for about 1 minute in the microwave.  Add coconut oil and melt.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients with a fork or small whisk until smooth.  Pour into half-cup mason jar. 

To use, take a little in the fingertips and rub into arm pits.

This recipe fills a half cup jelly jar perfectly, but I've read that it can spoil so I only put half of it in my jar and put half in the frig.  I added the beeswax to firm up the mixture and keep it in place.  If Burt's Bees can make a deodorant out of these ingredients, so can I.

The wind is still blowing and the snow is blocking the view.  It's getting dark now and all I can see is the yard light.  I'm looking forward to nicer days soon.

What are you doing this Sunday?

Maryjanes Farm...

I just have to share a special magazine that I've fallen in love with.  It's Maryjanes Farm.  (It drives me nuts that there is no apostrophe in the name, but it's her magazine, after all.)  I bought my first issue of Maryjanes Farm a few years ago from our little hometown grocery store and I have looked for it ever since.  My daughter-in-love, bless her heart, gave me a subscription last summer for my birthday and I've enjoyed every single issue.  It is one magazine that I read from cover to cover.  Even the ads are interesting to peruse.

What kind of magazine is this?  Well, I'd say it's a magazine for any woman who loves country life, wishes she could live in the country, or who has the spirit of the country living within.  Between the pages you'll find articles on organic foods, gardening,  recipes, quilting, stitching or crafting, DIY projects, and lots of stories about women who either live in the country or who are bringing a little country to their urban spaces. The entire magazine has a clear organic theme, in fact it states on the front cover, "The Everyday Organic Lifestyle."  I'm fine with that, even though I don't consider myself an "organic" type, but more of the practical type.  Don't get me wrong, there is a heap of practical stuff in here amidst the organics.  I'd say that the two often go hand-in-hand.  You'll sit up and notice that the photography all through this periodical is gorgeous, inviting,  and homey.  You'll feel as if you just pulled up a rocker on the front porch for a long sit or walked through the door to be greeted with a slice of apple pie and a cup of coffee.   I love the fact that Maryjanes Farm is printed on non-glare paper which makes reading and picture gazing much more fun.

Here are a few of the articles that particularly caught my eye in the February/March issue:

Fast Foods That Aren't Junk

Hatching a Hobby (chickens)

Naturescaping:  Lawn-Free Yards

I Think my Treadle's Sexy (treadle sewing machines)

Grab that Carpenter's Apron -- Yes You (build a flower box)

Stencil Revival

After reading, I Think My Treadle's Sexy, I made up my mind that I'm going to go out to the old bunk house and drag my old Singer treadle machine out and see if there is any way to fix her up.  There were lots of tips in the article and even a diagram of all the parts in a treadle sewing machine.  MJ even listed a repair man, who repairs and trades treadle machines.  Here is a website that includes instructions on basic treadle maintenance for the do-it-yourselfer.  See what inspiration comes from a good magazine?


Even if you never do one thing from MJ's, you'll simply enjoy reading it and paging through the pictures.  It's like taking a mini-vacation without leaving home.  By the way, I do share this lovely magazine with my girls.  It's too wonderful not to share. 

a rose is a rose?

A Love Gift

from my Man

Have you seen anything like it?

Me neither.

But I love it.

I call it the Hippie Rose

It cheered me on a dismal day

Winter riding, cows, and boot cleaning...

       Gathering up the 2 year old heifers.  

These heifers will be having their first calves in March.  Yesterday we had a lovely, warm day to gather them up and bring them through the barn to vaccinate them.  They were vaccinate with Guardian which is a vaccine to prevent scours ( E.coli diarrhea) and a few other viruses in their pre-born calves.  The heifers will get a booster in two weeks.  I think it's amazing that this vaccine enters the mother's immune system and will help to protect their baby calves against common viral and bacterial killers.

       Taking the cows back out to their pasture.  

Often heifers are a bit flighty and apt to break away from the herd when they see horses riding out to them, but the girls did a good job of remaining fairly calm amidst the three of us riding into their space.  There was no rodeo nor any run-aways!  What a relief because despite the bare ground showing, there is still quite a bit of snow and patches of ice here and there which makes for precarious riding conditions.  The thought of our horses slipping out from under us is always a concern when riding this time of year.

      Pete

 After the vaccinating was done, the heifers had to go back to pasture.  I rode up ahead since it was my job to guard an open gate and the car gate so the heifers wouldn't go through either of them.  While the guys brought the heifers up my way, I took some time to love on my pony, Pete.  I petted and patted and talked sweet to him and he loved me back by sniffing my boots.   I don't know why, but he likes to do that.  So "click" here's a picture of Pete sniffing my boots!  It reminded me of a quote from my devotional time in My Utmost for His Highest.

"Sometimes we are fresh for a prayer meeting but not fresh for cleaning boots."

~Oswald Chambers

    My Utmost for His Highest, January 20 entry

This morning I spent some time cleaning boots -- banging the dirt out of shoes, work boots and riding boots alike.  When I realize that even boot cleaning is important to God, it's easier to be fresh for the work.  If Jesus thought it was important to wash the disciples' feet, I can clean the boots.

Gramma Day...

It's Gramma Day!

It's the day of the week when Grandpa and I keep our lil Grandangel all day.

Since she lives just next door, we get to see her nearly every day, but one day a week, we devote just to our grandgirl.  We all love it.  I think she does too.

Here, Grandpa is helping H. feed the sheep alfalfa cake.

Today there are...

books to read

songs to sing

dances to dance

blocks to stack

ponies to play with

walks to take

balls to throw

hugs to give

kisses to kiss

A few first words....

Appa (apple)

Wuff Wuff (dog)

Dweeee! (excitement!)

Nut
Hot

But (button)

Pigs (toes)

Yay!

Oh no!

Whoa!

Bawck Bawck (chicken)

Moo (cow)
Sh-it (sit, a command given to the dog)

A song she sings (with me)...

"Ah-shee Wash-ee Woo"

When we wash hands, I sing these words to the hymn

I Shall Not be Moved
sung by Ricky Van Shelton

Why?

Because our kids , when they were toddlers, used to

sing it this way...

"Ah-shee Wash-ee Woo"

(I shall not be moved)

Get it?

Now H. sings it....

Ah-eee ah-eee ooooo

(I love it!)