Wordless Wednesday- First Hatch of The Season...

Fruit & Oatmeal Bars

Fruit & Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients-

• 1/2 cup butter



• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar



• 1 cup all purpose flour



• 1/4 tsp baking soda



• 1/8 tsp salt



• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal



• 1 1/2 cups fruit jam or pie filling

Directions-

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Combine the butter, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and rolled oats.

2. Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the preserves over the top and sprinkle with the remaining crumb mixture, gently pressing crumbs into jam.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting.

Old Fashioned Pineapple Upside Down Cake

(This one was baked in a pan hence the rectangular shape)

Old Fashioned Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

• 
  
  4 eggs


• 
  
  1/2 cup butter


• 
  
  1 cup packed brown sugar


• 
  
  1 (20 ounce) can of sliced pineapple


• 
  
  maraschino cherries


• 
  
  1 cup sifted flour


• 
  
  1 tsp baking powder


• 
  
  1/4 tsp salt


• 
  
  1 cup white sugar


• 
  
  1 tbsp melted butter


• 
  
  1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a 10 inch heavy skillet with a heat-resistant handle (I use a cast iron skillet), melt 1/2 cup butter or margarine over very low heat. Remove from heat, and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over pan. Arrange pineapple slices to cover bottom of skillet. Distribute cherries around pineapple; set aside.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Separate the eggs into two bowls. In a large bowl, beat egg whites just until soft peaks form. Add granulated sugar gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat until stiff peaks form. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks at high speed until very thick and yellow. With a wire whisk or rubber scraper, using an over-and-under motion, gently fold egg yolks and flour mixture into whites until blended. Fold in 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine and almond extract. Spread batter evenly over pineapple in skillet.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip. 5. Loosen the edges of the cake with table knife. Cool the cake for 5 minutes before inverting onto serving plate.

***You can also bake this in a baking pan in the oven. Just layer it the same way.****

Bread Bowls and Chicken & Dumplings...

It is cold and rainy here today so I decided to make chicken & dumplings to warm the house up and give it a yummy smell.

And these recipes taste even better if you have raised the chickens that contributed the eggs and donated their lives to these dishes :)

(The nasty rooster that was harmed for today's food was warned on several occasions to stop attacking Maddy. Obviously he did not listen.)

Bread Bowls:

Ingredients-

• 2 (.25 ounce) packages of active dry yeast


• 2 1/2 cups warm water


• 1 tsp brown sugar


• 2 tsp salt


• 2 tbsp vegetable oil


• 3 cups all purpose flour


• 4 cups whole wheat flour


• 1 tsp cornmeal


• 1 egg white


• 1 tbsp water

Directions-

1. In a large bowl dissolve yeast and brown sugar in the warm water. Let stand until frothy (usually about 10 minutes).


2. Add salt, oil, and the 4 cups of whole wheat flour to the yeast mixture. Mix well. Add the all purpose flour 1/2 cup at a time mixing well.


3. When the dough is well mixed, place it on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until it is smooth.


4. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn to lightly coat in oil. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled (usually about 40 minutes).


5. Punch down dough and divide into 8 equal pieces, kneading and forming into a ball shape. Place the loaves on a lightly greased cookie sheet that has been dusted with cormeal.


6. Allow to rise until doubled (~30 minutes).


7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make egg wash by beating the egg white with the tablespoon of water.


8. Brush each loaf with egg wash. Bake in oven for 10 minutes.


9. Remove from oven and brush remaining egg wash on each loaf. Return to oven and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until brown.


10. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. When you are ready to serve cut a 1/2 inch piece off the top, scoop out the insides, and fill with a hot soup.

Chicken & Dumplings:

Ingredients-

• 1 (2 to 3 lb) whole chicken


• 1 cup chopped carrots


• 1 cup chopped celery


• 1 cup chopped onion


• 2-5 cloves of garlic, chopped


• 1 tsp baking powder


• 2 cups all purpose flour


• 1 egg


• Any seasonings you would like

Directions-

1. In a large stockpot cover the chicken and vegetables with salter water and simmer until cooked all the way through.


2. When tender removed chicken from pot and cool. Once cool add pieces of chicken back to the broth.


3. To make dumplings: Sift 2 cups of flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour in 1 cup of the chicken broth. Use a fork to mix well. Add a whole egg and continue to mix with fork.


4. Once totally mixed place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.


5. Seperate the dough into 4 or 5 parts and roll into a thin strip. Cut the strips into 2 inch pieces.


6. Bring chicken broth to a boil and drop dumplings in (be careful you do not want boiling broth to splash on you). Simmer 10-15 minutes and serve hot.

Wordless Wednesday- Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Time again for "It's Monday, What Are You Reading?". Make sure you take time to head over to visit Sheila and link up.

Well I finished "Guilty Pleasures" last week. It was a very fun read, a mix of comic book/supernatural mystery. I will definitely be finishing this series.

Onto "The Laughing Corpse" by Laurell K. Hamilton for this week. I have been totally sucked into the Anita Blake series. I mean what can I say? She is totally bad ass and yet down to earth at the same time. She can successfully slay vampires but then again has to will herself to not vomit at crime scenes, my kinda girl.

I'm hoping that if I can finish this one within the week (no promises, my 2 year old believes the only thing I should be reading is books to her) I can start "Breathers: A Zombie's Lament" by S.G. Browne. My sister recommended this book to me and since she has never been wrong yet I feel I should give it a shot. Plus that way I won't fly through the Anita Blake series and get bummed like I did with the Twilight series.

So It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Wordless Wednesday- R.I.P. Corey Haim

Corey Haim
December 23, 1971 - March 10, 2010

Evil Dead: The Musical...

I am so excited! Evil Dead: The Musical is headed my way!!!

I am a total Deadite, I admit it. I am obsessed with the Evil Dead Trilogy, own several Evil Dead video games, have owned the same car that is all the movies ('73 Olds Delta 88 was my first car), and actually named my daughter Ash after Bruce Campbell's character (although I did draw the line at Ashley).

The show is playing in Buffalo at the Alt Theatre from March 10-April 3. Be there or be square!!!

There Will Be Therapy In My Kids Future...

I decided to bake some pita pockets tonight to have for lunches and such. I then had the brilliant idea to make pita pizzas for dinner (kill two birds with one stone).



I have these beautiful daughters, who are just angels. So I make smiling faces on their pita pizzas.



Then while they were eating came the sure sign that I watch way toooo many zombie movies and allow my daughters to watch parts of said movies. Both my daughters would take a bite out of their pizza people and mumble "BRRAAAAAAAINS"...

Spring Is In The Air...

Well the sun has been shining for the past 2 days and the temperatures have been in the low 40's. I might have even seen some snow melt.

The increase in vitamin D in my system is making me cheerful, and even a little hopeful that Spring is on its way!



My chickens and turkeys are taking advantage of the sunny weather to peck around and the roosters are even showing the hens a little love!



When I checked the seeds I planted under the grow lights today, I even found one of my hollyhocks and my basil had sprouted!!! I just planted them this past sunday.

Hopefully this evening I will get around to planting some more of my slow growing flowers.

Wordless Wednesday- Snow Chickens...

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday again. I have to say I really like this meme, it is motivating me to read more and also opening up my eyes to books I probably wouldn't have given a second look at.

Right now I'm about 80% of the way through "Under the Dome". Hopefully I should be done with it by Wednesday.

Next up is "Guilty Pleasures" the first book in the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. My sister is in the middle of this series and says it's right up my alley.


I hope everyone has a great week and happy reading!!!