WHERE YOU'LL FIND MY HANDCRAFTED ITEMS

WHERE YOU'LL FIND MY HANDCRAFTED ITEMS
Visit often, new things always being added

A sample of my handcrafts for sale

RECIPES

July 19, 2015

My easy Greek salad, great for summer: 1/2 lb. spaghetti noodles cooked, drained & cooled, 6 roma tomatoes, chopped, 6 green onions chopped, smallest pkg mushrooms chopped, 1 can black olives chopped, 1 large cucumber chopped, 1 pkg. crumbled Feta cheese, 4 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese, 1 T. minced garlic, 1 T. Greek seasoning, ground sea salt & peppercorns to taste. Mix all this in large serving bowl. Dressing: 3/4 cup Sabra humus, 3/4 cup Kraft Mayonnaise, 3/4 sour cream, 1/3 cup oily Italian dressing, 2 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 T. sugar - Whisk dressing ingredients together in separate bowl, taste to make sure you don't want to add more of something, pour over salad & mix thoroughly. Chill salad well, serve.





July 15, 2015

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE COBBLER
(the one Alonzo made - super good!)

Ingredients

1 box Duncan Hines Signature French Vanilla Cake Mix
1/2 cup butter/margarine, melted
3 large eggs, divided
1 pkg. (8-oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese
2-1/2 cups + 1 T. confectioner's sugar
1 can (21-oz.) Comstock Strawberry Pie Filling

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13" baking dish.

Combine cake mix, butter and 1 egg in large bowl until well-blended.  Reserve 1/3 cup for topping.

Press remaining mixture into bottom of prepared baking dish.

Beat softened cream cheese with electric mixer in large bowl.  Beat in remaining eggs and 2-1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar.  Pour over cake mixture in baking dish.  Spread strawberry pie filling on top and sprinkle with reserved cake mixture.

Bake 1 hour or until golden brown.  Refrigerate until chilled.  Cut into squares and sprinkle with remaining confectioner's sugar to serve.


NOTE:  Try this recipe and substitute other flavors of canned thick pie filling, such as blueberry, apple, peach, blackberry, raspberry or apple/cranberry.  You can find different flavors on your grocery shelves at different times of year, especially during holidays!  This bakes up very pretty, and you can be proud to serve it.  Tastes just yummy!



April 8, 2014

JAN'S WHITE BEAN CHICKEN CHILI




INGREDIENTS:
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 tsp. minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
3-4 cups chicken broth (or stock)
3 cans (16 oz. each) diced tomatoes
2 cans (18.75 oz. each) tomatillos, drained & chopped
1-1/2 to 2 tsp. dried, crushed oregano
1-1/2 tsp. ground coriander
¾ tsp. ground cumin
2 cans (15.25 oz. each) sweet corn kernels, drained
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 cans (15 oz. each) white beans
1 pinch salt & black pepper to taste
2 pkg. (envelopes) French’s Chili-O powder

DIRECTIONS:  My recipe fills up an oval 6-quart crock pot.  Before starting the crock pot, boil chicken breasts in a separate stock pot with water to cover & a dash of salt & pepper.  Cook until chicken is done.  Remove chicken, cool slightly, and shred each breast with a fork.  Add all this chicken to crock pot with 2 cups of the chicken broth. 

Add all remaining ingredients to the crock pot, stirring well to mix.  Add the remaining 1-2 cups of chicken stock or broth as room in pot allows.  Cover and simmer all day on low heat.

Serve with hot cornbread, Mexican cornbread, or Lime Tortilla Chips.

NOTE:  Freezes well packed in air-tight containers, label and date to help you remember.


November 16, 2011

Spaghetti Supreme Recipe

October 21, 2011

Wow!  Fall up North is so invigorating!  Leaves everywhere and crops 'o plenty to pick up from the ground!  What to do with it all??  Get a jump on your holiday gifts sounds good to me!  My DD and I returned carrying a truck bed full of the world's best apples, more black walnuts than I'll know what to do with, and chestnuts.  The chestnuts are going in the freezer in the shell to hold for later.  My DH loves them!  The black walnuts are still in their green hull and are laid out on my patio to dry some.  I've started my oldest grandson on popping those open and getting the outer hulls off the black walnut shell.  It's a job, one of which I did in my dad's yard with him and afterwards realized I should have been wearing gloves!  OMG!!  My hands and fingernails are stained beyond what soaking them in straight Clorox will do!!  What a goofball I am!  - - - The apples were our first concern on returning home, so for the last several days we've peeled and peeled and peeled.  My hands and fingers are sore and numb, but the taste of this particular apple my parents have grown for 50-some years on their property is worth all the labor.  I'm sharing with you the canning recipes we've done up so far, and these recipes came from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving in case you want to look that up online for purchase.  It's a wonderful softcover book full of canning how-to's, recipes for canning, and just oodles of hints, tips, tricks, etc. for putting away your garden's bounty!  I just finished scrapping the best photos of our two recipe processes to post here so you'll have a visual for each recipe below. 

CRANAPPLE BUTTER  (way too easy & not expensive - yeah!!)


Yield:  about 6 pints  (note:  we used 12 half-pint jars)

INGREDIENTS:

6 pounds apples (about 24 medium)
2 quarts cranberry juice cocktail
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

To Prepare Pulp:  Wash apples.  Core, peel and quarter apples (Note:  We sliced each quarter into 3 slices.)  Combine apples and cranberry juice cocktail in a large saucepot.  Simmer until apples are soft.  Puree' using a food processor or food mill, being careful not to liquefy.

To Make Butter:  Combine apple pulp, sugar and spices in a large saucepot.  Cook until thick enough to round up on a spoon.  As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Ladle hot butter into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles.  Adjust two-piece caps.  Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.  YOU ARE FINISHED - YEAH!!

NEXT UP:

CURRIED APPLE CHUTNEY  (more labor & cost, but sooo worth it for the flavor!)


Yield:  about 10 pints  (again, we used half-pint canning jars)

INGREDIENTS: 

2 quarts chopped, peeled, cored apples (about 16 medium)
2 pounds seedless raisins
4 cups brown sugar
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped sweet red pepper
3 tablespoons mustard seed
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 hot red peppers, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups vinegar (recipe did not specify type, so we used white vinegar)

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot.  Simmer until thick.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Ladle hot chutney into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles.  Adjust two-piece caps.  Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

NOTE:  When cutting or seeding hot peppers, wear rubber gloves to prevent hands from being burned.

These are delicious and timely fall recipes to add some flavor to your winter meals.  I hope you can use and enjoy them!! 

TOOTLES!

January 22, 2011

Here is where I'll post a collection of recipes, both scrapped and some scribbled.  Don't forget to use the labels in the right side bar to navigate to older posts which include things you may wish to see before these pages were added to my blog.  If you have any trouble reading these, blowing up your magnification on your screen may help.  Other than that, if you truly want it from me, send me an email request, and I'll email you the original.  Okay, here we go!

Be back with more soon!