Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups good quality flour (Montana Wheat, Lily, King Arthur)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

8 tablespoons cold butter

1 cup buttermilk

¼ tsp baking soda for buttermilk

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar.

Cut 6tbls of the butter into flour with fingers.

Put the flour and butter mixture into freezer for 15 minutes.

Add baking soda to the buttermilk.

Take flour mixture out of freezer, grate 2 tbls of frozen butter into the mixture

Add in buttermilk,  mix with hands. Mixture will be very wet.

Lightly flour the counter.

Flour hands and pat dough down to an inch and a half thickness.

Using a biscuit cutter, cut biscuits with up and down method. Do not twist! If you do not have a biscuit cutter, do not use a glass or cup or bowl as, these will seal the edges and your biscuits will not rise.  Use a knife and resign yourself to square biscuits.

Place on baking sheet, touching. Brush with milk.

Bake for 8 minutes. Turn over gently back another 5-7 min. All ovens are different.

Brush with butter when they come out of oven.

Chilli Blanco

I love this 'white chilli', it is just the right blend of chilli flavor, spice and white beans. Don't forget to soak the beans overnight, it will really make a difference in how the beans cook and break down.

6 cups chicken stock

1 pound great northern beans (soaked in water overnight)

2 medium Spanish onions, chopped

6 cups diced cooked chicken

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced

2 diced chili peppers

1 1/2 teaspoon oregano

2 teaspoons cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup salsa

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Sour cream (optional garnish)

Monterey Jack cheese (optional garnish)

Directions:

Simmer beans, half the onions, and half the garlic for 2 hours in the chicken

stock or until the beans soften, stirring frequently. Add chicken and salsa.

Saute pepper, spices, and the remaining onions and garlic in the oil and add to

the chili. Simmer for one more hour.

Garnish with sour cream or Monterey Jack cheese.

Beef Stew

There isn't anything all that special about this beef stew recipe.  It's just a classic stew, warm and filling.  But, it sure hits the spot on a cold winters night. 

·         2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch pieces

·         1/4 cup flour

·         1/2 teaspoon pepper

·         1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

·         1 bay leaf

·         3 potatoes, diced

·         2 Medium Carrots

·         1 stalk celery, sliced

·         1 1/2 teaspoons salt

·         1 1/2 cups beef broth

·         1 garlic clove

·         1 teaspoon paprika

·         2 onions, chopped

 

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 1/2 day

1.     1 Place meat in crock pot.

2.     2 Mix flour, salt, pepper and pour over meat.

3.     3 Stir to coat meat with flour.

4.     4 Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix well.

5.     5 Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

6.     6 Stir stew thoroughly before serving

(you can add other veggies if you want, I normally throw in some peas and sometimes little pearl onions instead of the chopped onions)

Supreme Sugar Cookies

I have been asked many times about how to bake a great cookie, everytime.  Cookies, as simple as they seem are a lesson in patience and obedience. There are several components to a great cookie, I will try to highlight them here. 

1. Almost all cookies start with butter, and or shortening.  This means real butter in a stick, not a tub and not margarine, no butter substitute, artificial spread in a plastic tub or 'butter flavored' shortening. It is important that the butter be softened at room temperature.  There is only one way to do this....take it out of the fridge and wait. (about 1 hour)  You can't put it in the microwave. a warm bowl of water, melt it, or set it in the sun.  

If it calls for both make certain that you mix them well before continuing on to the next step.

2. Sugar.  Use the sugar the recipe calls for, if it calls for both brown and granulated sugar...do it.  Substituting all of one kind because you don't have both will not produce the desired cookie. When you mix the sugar(s) into the butter/shortening mixture, have some patience.  On a good mixer on medium speed this will take a minimum of 5 minutes.  Scrape the bowl down a couple of times during this process.

3. Eggs, do yourself a favor and dont use egg substitute or egg whites only.  When you mix this and any extracts that the recipe calls for into your mixture, get ready to hurry up and wait.  This needs to mix until the color of the mixture lightens several shades, in most cases almost white and looks like fluffy frosting, roughly 10 min.

5. Dry ingredients, when you are ready to mix these in, do so lightly.  If you are still using the mixer, mix until just incorporated.  I prefer to do this step by hand. If you overmix at this point your cookies will get tough.

6. Several cookie types need refrigeration.  Do not skip this step or scimp on the time.  It makes a huge difference.

4. Baking times.  Bake the cookies on the instructed temperature for the time stated in the recipe.  I don't care if you 'think' they look done or not. Now, after you remove the cookies from the oven, leave the cookies on the sheet for 1 minute before removing them to a flat surface or wire rack and wait at least five minutes for the cookies to set. Test your cookie and if it is a little underdone increase the time by 1 min.  If it is a little overdone, decrease the time by 1 min. 

With all that said, I realize the biggest complaint I will get is, people have dietary needs and substitutions are neccesary.  To that I reply, actually portion control, (1 or 2 cookies, not the whole batch) is the key to everything yummy. Almost without exception, any and all substitutions are bad for you and filled with chemicals, you really aren't doing yourself any favors. But, if you must substitute some of the ingredients, do not come back to me complaining that the recipe didn't work out, or that they didn't 'taste' like mine.    

Now without further ranting :) With the holidays coming up, here is my recipe for sugar cookies. Happy baking!! 

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl, then add the flour mixture. Blend on low speed, or mix in by hand, just until combined. Do not over mix. Gather dough into a ball. Refrigerate 12 hours or overnight.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut dough into desired shapes and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9 minutes, being careful not to brown. Let rest one minute then, transfer cookies with a spatula to cool on a flat surface.

Face Wash and Moisturizer

Yep, that's right.  My nightly facewash and moisturizer is just coconut oil.  There is a whole spiel about why, and how....that I am just not going to go into on this one.

If you are brave, trust me and wash your face as normal, pat dry then take a quarter-sized amount and rub, rub, rub... it will begin to liquify as your rub.

After about 1 minute take a hot, wet, white, wash cloth and cover your face for 1 minute then wipe off excess oil, (do not rinse or wash) and look at all the dirt and make-up YOUR normal method is leaving behind... ewww.

I do this proceedure every night and wash my face as normal in the morning with an all natural bar soap.  I use one from Cal-Ben called 'beauty bar' but, there are several on the market.  Castille makes a very good one.

Shampoo and Conditioner

Did you know, shampoo wasn't even invented until the turn of the century, wasn't readily available until 1930's, wasn't considered, 'the thing to do' until the 1940's and really did not have a profit in the marketplace until the 1970's?  Remember when EVERY brand had 3 formulas, 1 for oily hair, 1 for dry hair and 1 for normal hair? The shampoo business was booming.

But, what did all those people do for all those years, without shampoo.  Did they just have dirty hair? In looking back at old photographs, obviously, no they didn't.  Some of those pictures show women with gorgeous locks and amazing hairstyles that simply would not have been possible with greasy, dirty hair! Could it be possible that the shampoo industry is just a money making scheme? The more you use, the more you need? I believe so....and that is where my story begins.

A couple of years ago I kept seeing this information for poo-free or poo-less concoctions.  I was intrigued but, not convinced.  I continued to follow some of the blogs and the journeys to rid their familes of chemicals especially those surrounding health and beauty.  Then after a year or so, pictures began to surface.  These women had gorgeous hair, could it be true?  Now, I was interested so, I sat out on my own journey.  Armed with baking soda, water and apple cider vinegar, I was ready to tackle this project. It went along splendidly, yes, there was a transition period and my hair didn't look wonderful for about 1 week.  But, besides that everything was looking up.

Then it happened, without warning, I woke up on morning, took a shower, performed my new shampooing and conditioning method and it didn't feel 'clean'.  Ok so, maybe this is yet another transition period, I tell myself. I make some adjustments to the formula, and the next day...it's worse, for the following 7 days, no matter what I tried ... it got WORSE.  I was so tempted to just break down and use the store bought stuff, but, what went wrong?

Now it was to the point of just plain gross,  I was so disappointed.  I was just convinced there had to be a solution so, I went back to the drawing board, (internet)  and began my arduous search.  I came across some sites that claimed I was doing it wrong.  OK, I didn't buy their chemistry, (they claim baking soda is bad for your hair because it has a ph level that it too high,  But, we aren't using it straight out of the box, mixing it with water lowers the ph so....that really shouldn't be the issue.) They offered other solutions, everything from honey to coconut milk, sooo,  I then spent the next 4 days trying other methods only to have my hair turn into some kind of gunky disaster, full of a variety of home remedies.

Now, I was just determined to find the cause and act upon a solution that would bring back my soft, shiney....CLEAN, hair.

After many, many, searches and numerous blogs I read something that gave me of one of those.. ah ha, moments.  Could it be that simple? After a quick jaunt to the store and yet another shower. Yes, Yes....that's it... my hair is back!!

Living here in the good old state of Missouri our water is a little on the hard side... (ha, that's like saying, I am a little stubborn) So, the key to the formula? Distilled water...ahhhh. :)

If you are going to try this, and have hard water, a jug of the distilled stuff is going to be in order...or you could make your own but, even I have my limits!!

Shampoo Ingredients:

2 tblsp baking soda
2 cups DISTILLED water
1 squirt bottle

Conditioner Ingredients:
2 tbls Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Cups Water
1 spray bottle

Directions:

Mix ingredients for both into separate bottles.

In the shower wet your hair and use the baking soda mixture to clean your scalp.  Don't worry so much about your hair, it's really your scalp that needs cleaning.  Just use the squirt bottle to get the solution right on to the scalp, cover well, then massage it in for 1 minute, rinse. (2 cups lasts me a week)

Lightly mist the top of your hair, NOT YOUR SCALP, and then really soak those ends.  Wait 1 minute and rinse. (2 cups lasts me 1 week)

Dry and style as normal, be cautious about using heat...your hair will be softer and more vunerable than it used to be when it was coated in chemicals.  Plus, you will find your hair is much more managable and requires less work than it used to.

Don't be so skeptial...try it ...you will love your hair!!

(PS, Steve is to the point he hardly ever even needs any shampoo and his hair always look great.  In fact, he had a haircut a couple of week ago and the stylist had to use thinning shears...he hasn't needed THAT in a very long time!)

Snickers Salad

Almost every 4th of July our family gathers at our lake in Northern Missouri for our annual reunion. These reunions have been the basis for many a wonderful memory and a smorgasbord of delicious food. Last year it was my Niece Natalie that took the show with this, simple yet oh so wonderful salad. (i like calling it a salad, it makes me feel better about myself when, I am on my 3rd or 4th helping)

Ingredients:

2 boxes instant vanilla pudding

2 cups milk

4-5 apples

4-5 snickers (big bars)

12 oz cool whip

Cut up apples in small pieces

Cut up Snickers in bite sized pieces

Add milk to pudding & stir, add cool whip and fold in gently

Mix in apples and Snickers 

Enjoy!!

Deluxe Pecan Pie

For years I wasn't much of a Pecan Pie fan. But, I had family members that would request them from time to time.  I finally realized that for me, there wasn't near enough filling for my liking so, I began to experiment and this is the result of my effort.  At least for me it did the trick, it is now among my favorite pies.

Ingredients:

1 piecrust*
1 1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs
2 1/2 cups toasted pecan halves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Make the piecrust and place in a 9-inch pie plate. Bake the crust until light golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Whisk the corn syrup, brown sugar, salt, butter and vanilla in a medium bowl. Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl, then whisk into the corn syrup mixture.

Finely chop 1 cup pecans and spread evenly over the piecrust.

Take remaining 2 cup pecans and mix into the corn syrup mixture, then pour the filling into the crust.

Bake the pie, 40 to 50 minutes. (it will appear to be VERY loose, don't worry it will be perfect when it cools) Cool completely on a rack.

Piecrust recipe can be found- http://thymesweetenedhoney.blogspot.com/2013/07/hot-water-pie-crust.html

Bread and Butter Pickles

This year my garden was overrun with an abundance of cucumbers.  My thoughts turned to pickles and the only recipe in the family archives was a concoction of my fathers he called, 'Converted Dills'.  I simply refuse to use this Lime Kool-Aid based recipe so I went in search of a Bread and Butter pickle that my whole family could enjoy. 

I wanted something simple, quick, tasty, and crispy.  No soft, mushy pickles here, I made several attempts and in the end this was a combination of several recipes that gave me the desired results. 

6 cups (1 1/2 pounds) thinly sliced pickling cucumbers*
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

1. Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill 1 1/2 hours. Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl. Add onion to the bowl.

2. Combine sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Regular pickles work well too, the seeds tend to be bigger but, the taste is still wonderful.

Broccoli Soup

This is one of my first ever copy cat recieps.  Here in the midwest we used to have a restaurant called Rax.  They served a Broccoli Soup on their salad bar that my son would beg for.  Being a young mother with 2 small kids the budget was tight so I set out to make this at home.  My son may have grown up but, even at the ripe old age of 26 there are times he still begs for Broccoli Soup.

2 Large Heads of Broccoli

2 Cans Chicken Broth

2 Cans of Water

1 pint heavy cream

4 tbls butter

4 tbls flour

Shredded Cheddar cheese

Cut up broccoli into medium sized pieces. 

Add 2 cans chicken broth and 2 cans of water to a large pot add ¾ of the broccoli and bring to a boil and let broccoli get mushy.  Whisk to break up broccoli until it is all incorporated.  Add remaining broccoli and boil until it is fork tender.

Add heavy cream, salt and pepper to taste.

In a sauce pan melt butter add flour cook until brown, add the soup a little at a time to the thickened flour until it begins to incorporate then add it to the pot.

Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese.