Wow!  Can you say neglected?!  I actually was searching for a recipe that I had made a long while ago, and the light bulb went on that I had posted about it here!  I was needing something to accompany some sticky coconut rice with mango, and thought that apricot chicken would be just the thing.   I pureed a bunch of apricots and threw it in Ziploc freezer bags, and made some jam.
I had a revelation recently.  I found a steal of a deal on a rice cooker, and after hemming and hawing about another gadget that might get tossed in the pantry and forgotten, I decided that I could also use it for steaming veggies, or chicken and fish, and for making soups and such, great for keeping things warm when life gets busy, and supper time is hit or miss.  Anyway, I made my first batch of Spanish rice EVER that I wanted to eat more of!  I can make rice, but no matter what I do (or used to) when I attempt Spanish rice...even the box stuff...It turns out bland, lumpy, or way to spicy to eat.   I honestly didn't know I should have had one of these miracle machines my entire life.  I can't wait to use it for jasmine rice tomorrow.  

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Enter to win free crock pot!

Who doesn't love coming home to a hot and ready meal, check out "Eat at Home" for some great slow cooker recipes, menu planning, and enter to win a brand new crock pot
http://eatathomecooks.com/2011/10/menu-grocery-list-recipes-year-2-week-52-and-a-slow-cooker-giveaway.html/comment-page-4#comment-15172

Well Hello there Blog!

I have been so busy reading other people's blogs, and testing new and improved recipes, that I have been neglecting my own.  As you might guess, I am not one for a daily routine so to speak, and in fact I am really quite random!  That's me, scattered!
I am very proud to say that I have made my first ever attempt and canning!  And I have successfully preserved some apple butter, raspberry jam, and some apple jelly.  Nothing broke, shattered or exploded!  I am thrilled to say that both the jelly and jam were "thickened" with pectin that I made from the apple cores, and peels from the batch of apple butter I made in the crock pot.   I was impressed with myself that I made something from, basically, garbage.  The apples, and raspberries were given to us, so it really only cost me some time, a few cups of sugar and a little cinnamon.
My canning debut (while only with a hot water canner, no pressure cooker yet) has inspired both my husband and I to increase the size of our garden, which was also a first for us this year.  It was a learning experience to say the least, and while we did get plenty of zucchini, a few cukes, some leafy green lettuce and one tasty watermelon (Bob the goat got the 3 ears of "10 kernels on an ear" corn)  We do know that he put way toooooo much compost on the soil too soon to planting time, and I won't waste my time starting seeds inside.  I am excitedly planning for more veggies, and will gear up sooner with out fruit trees in a better attempt at sparing them from the bugs!  We have a great apple tree that has tried since we moved here 3 years ago to actually produce, this year there were tons of apples on it, but each of them were wormy.  We did get some yummy pears off the tree, but I think I will have to save the milk jugs and bait them with cider vinegar early on and often.
I have tasted the fresh from home difference, and I can't wait to stock the pantry next year.
Well there I feel satisfied that I have paid a little attention to the blog...I am off to check on the sick boy, and get a few chores done around here.

I am on a mission

I am on a mission this week, to make bread dough and freeze some loaves, some rolls, and some buns before baking, so they can be taken out and baked fresh as needed.  I enjoy making bread, I started with a wonderful bread machine, that I still use often, but I have found that kneading with my hands, while messier, also makes such a wonderful loaf of bread.  The white bread that I have been making lately uses a sponge that really needs overnight to taste it's best, and since I only have 2 loaf pans, its quite the process.  So I have seen on various posts how you can make the dough and freeze to thaw and use later, I have never tried it, and won't go too gung ho on in, just a few loaves, and a batch of rolls/buns for today to see how well they bake up later.  Sure I can just bake and freeze, home made bread freezes so well, and actually seems to be more moist after freezing, but as I said, 2 loaf pans, and a baked loaves will surely take up more space than I have room.  So this is my mission! I am going to go start my sponge now 3 batches worth will do, and I will also make 2 batches of dough in the bread machine to compare later and see if the extra work is worth the end result.  If you are interested in my by hand from sponge recipe here is the link!  This is the one that I find easy to use, fail proof really, and with a very tasty end result.  I do add just a touch more salt in with the flour to punch up the flavor, other than that its a great dough for sandwich loaves and makes wonderful dinner rolls (i use a muffin tin)


http://vernasrecipes.norseaodyssey.com/Breads/Yeast_Breads/White_Bread_with_Sponge_Starte/white_bread_with_sponge_starte.htm

Oh boy!

Gosh I have been a bad blogger....sorry I have not checked in for a while.  I can say I am busy, but who isn't...I really am busy, but from the outside of my life looking in, some would say "busy with what?"  The kids are back to school, life's routine has returned.  So why am I so busy really, doing not much?!?
 
I bake, I clean, I feed my Facebook addiction, I have lunch with my hubby when he gets home, I do laundry, I play with the dogs, cats, and give the goat loves...I chat with old friends and new on the screen that sits here calling me through out the day.  And then the kids are home and the hustle of evening is here, homework, supper, posting on FB what was for supper, posting pic of said supper, kids shower or bath, cats fed, goat put to bed, ah better check what happened on FB again.  Chat with hubby and kids about their busy being busy days.  And then its to bed with the kids, to bed with the hubs, a little TV and off to sleep so that I can wake up and do it all again.
It's a sometimes boring, often rewarding, frustrating for no apparent reason, laughter filled, sweet and sometimes sour life, and I love (almost) every minute of it.

Too Good not to share

I have been hearing about these rolls on various blogs and pages that I follow, and so I had to try them...I did not use the cinnamon butter that I guess is what makes them a big deal, and after trying them, I will do that next time, but we had a savory meal of chicken fried steak, mashers and country gravy so I didn't want sweet rolls.  These are easy, and they are quite impressive once baked  I think cutting the sugar back by half and adding some garlic or onion powder and these would make on hellova burger bun...I will do them again for a brunch with the cinnamon butter.   Anyway I wanted to share the link to the recipe that I used...I have fallen in love with a roll!!!!!!!!
http://bethsfavoriterecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/texas-roadhouse-rolls-for-bread-maker.html