Blog Surfing

These Apple and Cheddar Turnovers sound great if you like cheddar with your apples like our family does. This recipe suggests using pre-made pie crust which makes it even faster and easier. And you will find a recipe here for Cider Braised Pork that is slow cooked on your stove top for one and a half hours. It looks very east to put together. From Tablspoon.

Candy Corn Cookies are perfect for this time of year. They are a larger version of the little candies and are so cute. From Wives with Knives.

Granny's Gingersnaps look good and very easy. They have molasses and ginger, just the way we like them. They make a great treat this time of year. From Food.com. Here are 10 Favorite Apple Recipes that range from breakfast to dessert. All from Food.com.

How about some Cranberry Upside Down Cakes for Thanksgiving, maybe? It uses a devils food cake mix and whole berry cranberry sauce, plus a few other ingredients. From Taste of Home.

I have looked for a recipe like this for years. These Stuffed Grape Leaves sound amazing! I'm keeping it here for future use. Thanks to Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness.

These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are a little different from most of the recipes I see. These are made with whole wheat flour and oatmeal. From Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

I'm always happy when I find a new recipe for pork tenderloin. This recipe for Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples sounds great. With the mix of spices and apple cider sauteed apples, it has to be good. From For the Love of Cooking.

Tasty Kitchen is featuring several recipes. Pumpkin Granola looks great and these Harvest Apple Cookies with Brown Butter Glaze look great too. This recipe for Fresh Out Of The Oven Granola has four ingredients and bakes for 20-30 minutes to bake. Baked Pumpkin Seeds could be a great choice with leftover pumpkins this time of year. 

I like the mix of flavors in this Green Chili Chicken and Lime Soup from Our Krazy Kitchen,  and I like the pairing with these Pepperjack Peach Chicken Quesadillas with Honey Lime Sour Cream from Debbi Does Dinner, suggested by Our Krazy Kitchen. You will also find Pumpkin Pie Crumble Cake here.

I was happy to see this recipe on Cooking, Dunkin Style. We love Chicken Lettuce Wraps and you can find an AKA version of P. F. Changs here.

If you love hazelnuts/filberts like we do, Food Gal has some amazing looking Hazelnut Scones.

Picky Palate has a recipe for Pumpkin White Chocolate Chunk and Candied Ginger Blondies. It sounds like a great flavor combination.

This Sweet Potato Pudding Cake is originally from the Eating Well magazine which is a great magazine. It is made with whole wheat pastry flour and light coconut milk. It looks and sounds great. Thanks to Culinary in the Desert.

The Changeable Table has a recipe for Stuffed Tomatoes that can be made in the oven or a crockpot.

Up, Up, and Away!

Technically, that should be down, down, down to the ground! Very often on Saturday mornings, we hear a familiar sound. It's not terribly loud, but it is a very distinct sound. It is the sound of the burners firing up as the hot air balloons are on their slow descent to the ground.

Our first glimpse

Getting closer

Almost down

Always happy to see them land safely

I think this one got lost

They are close enough that they could jump if they had too! Just kidding, although, that is what I would have been thinking if it was me up there!

I hear that when the balloons land on your farm, you can head over to the truck and they will usually give you a certificate for a complimentary trip up, up and away! That would be from Vista Balloon Adventures, Inc. located in Newberg, Oregon.

Well, I did a little research on the subject of hot air ballooning to better understand the physics behind it, and I am now convinced more than ever, it isn't a sport for me! Especially after reading that the two main structures are an envelope and a wicker basket!! (Wicker has been out since the 80's!) Oh, and I can't leave out the fuel tanks and the open flame on board too!!! (Mamma said don't ever play with fire!) In my world, that doesn't translate into fun! 

And furthermore, if an "envelope" can be used for 400 to 500 flights, who's the lucky rider taking the 399th or the 499th trip?

Not me!

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

A few weeks ago I saw Kraft Caramel Baking Bits in a grocery store. That got me thinking about what I could bake with them. I thought the obvious, caramel and apples go together, why not add that to an oatmeal cookie. Now that I had my idea, I couldn't remember where I had seen them. I started looking in every grocery chain that I had been in the past month or so and still couldn't find them. They might have been out but I didn't see a tag for them, so I thought I must have missed my chance to find them. I finally found them at Wal-Mart!

I used a basic oatmeal cookie recipe as my base and added my extra ingredients. Next time I make them, I will cut the apple chunks in half again so they are half the size. I am also storing them in the refrigerator because of the fresh apple chunks. I don't want them to ferment.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Here is the recipe:

Enjoy!

Easy Batter Rolls

Monday evening is becoming family dinner night and it has been so much fun, spending it with family and sometimes friends. Everyone has such busy schedules and it is so much fun to look forward to at least one evening where we all sit down together to share a meal. 

One of my sisters and her daughter spent the day with me at the farm and I was so happy that they were able to stay for dinner. It wasn't fancy food, just a home cooked meal!

Ready to sit down for dinner

I cooked a pot roast all afternoon and it turned out very tender and tasty. Along with the roast, we had mashed potatoes with gravy, fresh broccoli with a lower-fat sauce that had a little cheese, honey roasted carrots and easy batter rolls. 

This recipe has been used many times in the past few years. I love this recipe because you can have rolls on the table in about one hour and 15 minutes, give or take a few minutes. We took a little field trip to Bauman Farms in Gervais, Oregon, fairly late in the afternoon, but I was still able to get these rolls on the table, fresh from the oven. 

The baby of the bunch

This morning, this is the only one left for a close-up. The rest of the rolls were bigger than this. As you can see, this roll is not all smooth and pretty like most yeast rolls. With batter rolls, they usually turn out lumpy/bumpy on the outside because you don't knead the dough and you spoon the batter into muffin pans. Don't worry, they taste great, they are much easier and faster than regular "shaped" rolls, and you don't have to be a "baker" to make them.



Don't be afraid!
Enjoy!

A Princess Birthday Party

A princess named Maya turned 4 years old and what could we do but have a princess party for her! It had been a long time since I had made anything specifically girly and I had committed myself to pull this off but had no plan. I had the day of the party to prepare and I wasn't sure how I was going to make it all happen. I had a strawberry cake mix and pink and white frosting. I also had a bag of the pink melting drops and a mold that had six small tiara's on it, so I set out on a mission to find some inspiration.

I started out on a mission and headed to The Decorette Shop in Portland to look for something that might spark an idea. I left with a large bag of everything pink, but no real plan. From there I went to Michaels and found more sprinkles, but no ideas on what to do next. By this time I had traveled about 55 miles, it was almost noon, and I was starting to sweat, literally, it was a hot day! I had nothing going on "upstairs!" I decided it was time to go home and just start baking!

After baking the cake, a 40 minute field trip to Fred Meyers in Newberg for ice cream cones and another bag of everything pink that I could find, I headed back to start constructing the cake. As I was driving back, trying to keep my car from speeding, I was really beginning to think that I would still be standing there with a spatula in my hand and a crazy look on my face, trying to figure out what to do with the cake when the guests arrived! 

I'm glad that didn't happen. I was able to get a little idea and went with it! This is my very basic version of a "princess" cake.

It was actually a princess cake with a touch of circus around the outside

An indoor BBQ for dinner

The birthday girl posing with her cake

Wiley, peeking through the cake, said "Gramma, 
I want you to make me a cake like that too!"

I told him I would make one for him if he still wanted it at his birthday time next June

Lots of pink and white candles

Ivan getting a little help from his dad with his boots

The kids used up some of their energy playing Bocce

Uncle Alan was the referee

It was a fun birthday party. For the cake I frosted sugar ice cream cones and sprinkled them with pink sprinkles, turned them upside down and put a pink Whopper on top of each one. I bought the pink princess at Freddy's, washed her up and placed her on the cake. In my search for everything pink, I found the frosted circus animal cookies and decided to add them just because they were pink and white! 

It wouldn't win any awards for creativity, but the most important thing was that the birthday girl loved it! It was worth the time and miles. Now I have a huge bag of everything pink that I didn't use and it will take years to use. Actually, dear hubby has a birthday coming up next month. When I ask him what kind of cake he would like for his birthday he always says he doesn't care, what ever I want to make! You know what that means, he just might get his first princess cake! Maybe everybody will be getting their own version of a "princess" cake in the coming year for their birthday, and maybe next year too! I definitely have enough sprinkles and sparkles and everything pink!

Blog Surfing

Annie's Eats has a very special treat. These Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls would be great for a special brunch. Her Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie is her most popular post.

How clean is your kitchen? You might reconsider your answer after you read this article from The New York Times. Here is another link to see How to Clean 5 Common Kitchen Surfaces. All from The Kitchen.

If you have a donut pan, these Baked Caramel Apple Donuts are a nice alternative to fried. It would be hard to make them look like donuts without a donut pan. The batter looks great and could be used to make muffins instead. From Shutterbean.

It wouldn't be fall without Pumpkin Scones. They have four spices in them plus a spicy glaze. From Pennies on a Platter.

I like a little peanut butter with my apples and this Apple Peanut Butter Crisp sounds great. From Tasty Kitchen. Also from Tasty Kitchen, this Roasted Heirloom Tomato Soup sounds amazingly good. These Three Cheese Stuffed Shells with Meaty Tomato Sauce will be very good because they are from The Pioneer Woman herself, Ree, creator of Tasty Kitchen. Tilapia is a great fish, but it doesn't have much flavor of it's own. I am always looking for new tilapia ideas. This recipe for Parmesan Garlic Tilapia Sticks sounds great and it is baked. Thanks to Tasty Kitchen.


The pizza muffins from Mennonite Girls Can Cook look good and are made with one bowl and a muffin tin. You can find the recipe here. It would make a great snack for hungry kids!

The Brown Eyed Baker has a yummy looking recipe for The Baked Brownie. They look like a true chocolate fix!

Our Krazy Kitchen has a recipe for Stuffed Bell Peppers Italiano. They are filled in layers that include small pasta, a cheese mixture, sausage and marinara sauce.

How do Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Frosting sound? Cooking with Christine has the recipe and they look and sound great. You can find the recipe and picture here. The recipe makes six large cinnamon rolls.

One Perfect Bite is sharing a recipe for Georgia-Style Brunswick Stew. This recipe is different from the recipe I use but it sounds good. The meat and vegetables are pre-cooked so the cooking time is actually the time it takes to warm everything up.

Baking Bites has a recipe for Dark Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies that look very good, especially if you are a dark chocolate lover. The dough need to chill for at least an hour before slicing. You can also any type of chip that you prefer. You can find the recipe here.

Taste of Home has made over Mac 'n' Cheese with lower fat and calories and it is made in the crockpot. You can find the recipe here.

Tablspoon has a recipe for Pumpkin and Granola Cookies. I like the idea of having something crunchy in a normally soft pumpkin cookie. Here is another recipe that is for Topsy-Turvy Apple Pie and you can find it right here.

This recipe is for Boston Cream Pie with a twist, Bananas. You can see this recipe from Food.com here.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies and Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Toffee and Dried Cherries

I made both of these recipes in the last six weeks and gave them to different familys. I keep recipes I have made in a notebook(s) that pass my keeper-worthy tests; the recipe needs to be easy to follow, it can't have too many complicated steps or ingredients and it needs rave reviews. These recipes got rave reviews and are definitely worth keeping! 

The batch of these Cherry Chocolate Chip Toffee cookies turned out great. They are very easy to put together if you have the ingredients, mainly the dried cherries and toffee pieces. They turned out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I made them about a year ago and they turned out really good and were worth making again.

The original recipe is from Martha Stewart called Torie's Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies. When I made them, I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips in place of the chocolate chunks. We prefer the tart dried cherries for the extra burst of cherry flavor. I have found when I use other dried cherries, it tastes like raisins, not cherries. I also used the Heath Bar toffee pieces that you will find near the chocolate chips on the baking isle.

This recipe was adapted from the Martha Stewart website.




These cookies use some of the same ingredients, but with the addition of cocoa powder to the dough. I made these for another family and got rave reviews on these also. I can't believe it, but I didn't get any pictures. I have searched through my picture files because I though I must be overlooking them, but there isn't even one picture.I first saw this recipe at the website, ReTorte, and it is originally from the cookbook, In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley.



Enjoy!