Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Winner recipe!  New recipe tried! I had just enough cashews to use up, and the oven was already on, so..... Of course I used my homemade garlic powder in this recipe. Perfect for a chacturie board for any occasion. Delicious  as a snack. The recipe is free online with The Southern Lady Cooks. A bit sticky for a travel snack, but pack it up and enjoy it at your accommodations with cheese/crackers and a bottle of wine. It would make a nice gift too, along with some other creatively made food items, a bottle of wine, or specialty cheese/crackers.  The ideas are pretty endless. I've been experimenting with our frozen garden green beans.  I recently just tossed a bag full (maybe 3 cups) into an 8 x 8 baking dish, added 1/2 tsp. homemade garlic powder, and drizzled it with some organic olive oil.  Gave them a toss with some tongs, and baked them at 400° for 30 minutes.  I then sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top of them.  Oh my gosh!  Deli...

Monday we woke up to lots of fog.  Although school was delayed, our youngest still had to be up at her school (33 minute drive) earlier than normal bus pick up time.  She was heading to her first hair show.  I'm gonna assume next year she'll be going and spending more money as she learns more. The temps heated back up again, but it came with rain.  So frustrating as I cannot get in the garden to get the garlic planted.  I don't want to say it, but it may be the first fall we do not plant garlic.  This year has taught me that planting too late is just not worth the work followed by loss of harvest. I remembered I had pears in the freezer, so those pie crust crumbles came in handy.   It was my very first time to bake a pie using frozen fruit vs. fresh.  I thawed them completely, but they didn't look like the normal 2 1/2# fresh (meaning not enough).  I thawed 5# of frozen and drained them. It turned out perfect.  A...

November 1st sparked the start of National Novel Writing Month, and I am back to it this year.  Last year I didn't get to participate, but this year I am fired up.  Of course it helps to know that I need to submit a contest short story piece, but that will only entail 8,000 words.  NaNoWriMo requires 50,000 words in 30 days. Baking continues . . .  English muffins for some breakfast sandwiches.  A sausage/potato/kale frittata as well. All of my regular chores are still in action too, so I'm hoping to keep a balance somehow.   And of course our Staywell health insurance program has a bonus day on Nov.1st to obtain 15,000 steps (to earn 50 points).  So exercise was not left out either. Garden work continues, although cold.  I'm yanking green bean plants, weeds, and a few last tomato plants/stakes.  If there is a will, there is a way. . . and I call it quits when I can't feel my fingers any more.  The days are gett...

It's a chilly 32°F here this morning.  Brrr.  We have not yet turned on the heat (nor burned wood).  Wood....let's not be reminded we are so far behind on that chore (gasp!). I recently used some pumpkin puree to try another new recipe - Pumpkin Ricotta Stuffed Shells (Country Living, online). I purchased my pasta shells.  Barilla is certified Non-Gmo.  If you prefer, you could use homemade lasagna noodles and roll them, slice and bake in the tomato sauce too (for a completely self-sufficient dinner, adding a garden veggie for a side, homemade rolls etc.).  The basil and sage came fresh from my herb garden.  I had just enough of each herb. We absolutely loved this dish, but to me it lacks a protein.  I think I'll have a side of meatballs or something with it next time, for us meat eaters.  Tuesday night I went to bed completely e-xh-aus-ted.  I spent the day baking and mashing sweet potatoes, amongst other chores. ...

The previous rain left things very wet outside, so the inside got the attention it needed all day Friday. I roasted 1 larger pie pumpkin for making a batch of pumpkin butter. I put 2 cups in the fridge, and the rest went into the freezer. I roasted 6 more pumpkins for pumpkin puree, and have one very tiny one went to the porch for fall decor.  The puree will be used for pumpkin pancakes/waffles, pumpkin muffins and bread, pumpkin hummus, pumpkin steel cut oats, pumpkin-sage macaroni, pumpkin pie . . .just anything. I roasted more whiskey-bacon pumpkin seeds as well.  They are so good.  I updated over on the recipe post.  I doubled the amount of pumpkin seeds. (Saturday sunrise, just before we enjoyed our breakfast on the porch) Saturday the weather warmed back up, so I high-tailed it to the tomato patch and starting yanking those pesky stakes and tomato plants (which surprisingly, some were still green and alive).  What we started...

Pears are about ready to be picked.  Hubby brought in 5 or 6 and some were hard as a rock, so we have time yet to pick them.  Thank goodness. Two of them were ripe however, so I used one to can carrot cake jam for the first time.  Using our homegrown carrots, a home grown pear, and a few purchased ingredients.  I used this recipe:  Carrot Cake Jam. It uses the same amount of sugar that most recipes online require, but a mix of white granulated and brown sugar.  I have wanted to try this recipe for years, but put it off.  We didn't get any carrots last year either.  I can't remember why, but we didn't get beets or carrots.   Anyway....

Our pears have been sitting in a bag in this brewing bucket for 6 weeks now.  Just the other day, Hubby had a conversation with a co-worker who makes wine.  We got some tips. He asked questions, we got answers.  We explained that the two locations we can purchase supplies as, would not provide recipes.  They said, we provide a kit, you find the recipe "there are tons on the internet."  We knew this.  We found one, and well, we found another store that provides a recipe with full instructions.  Do your research folks.  Or just follow blogs like mine, wi th trial and error, h a ha.  So far, no error. He said we needed an acid to keep this from turning into vinegar.  We removed the bag of fruit.  Squeezed it and poured it into our 3 gallon carboy (glass).

This is how we began our pear wine - pears were seeded and stems removed.  We purchased a wine sieve bag to place in our 6.5 fermenter.  We had just enough pears to fill this half-way , which was about 23-24 lbs. of pears.  We added one cup of su gar f or every poun d of pears (approximately) , then poured boiling water over, with enough water above pears.

The pears are ripening before I want them to , so I canned Pear-Star Ani se Butter (Ball recipe).  It's a first time recipe for me.  I can't wait to taste it. Anise intrigue d me, so I started researching it too.

The temperature here dropped to the 20's last night, so I made soup to warm us all up.  I admit, I had my doubts that the kids would eat this soup, and I was pretty sure a few would refuse to even taste it. I've been experimenting this week with sweet potatoes.  They were on sale, so I stocked up on some.  This recipe comes from Allrecipes , and contains sweet potatoes, carrots, an onion and an apple.  It also contains freshly grated ginger and red lentils too.

My 19 year-old daughter asked me what she could use to flavor her pork chops with, and aside from herbs and spices, I have now suggested apple-pear-ginger chutney. I still have pears after all this baking and canning, so I made some.  It's great to flavor grilled sandwiches and other foods too. It's fabulous on ham.

Even though it's November, we are still seeing some color in our flower beds.   "Huh, I haven't heard you say, I'm going out to the garden today, in a long time.  I think I could get used to that," said my 11 year-old early this morning. Speaking of garden, my fitbit is reading 3,000 less steps per day, now that I'm not outside doing any outdoor work.  However, we haven't figured out our heating situation yet, so  that may change with splitting wood.  I'm going to have to do something to continue to get more exercise.  This may mean heading back to the gym, with a 5am workout.  Hubby needs it anyway.  They are warning employees about weight.  They are at a point now where they will not hire anyone that is over a specific weight, and will start looking for ways to fire employees, that weigh over a specific weight.  More and more employers are taking this route.

Pear Berry Gingerbread Loaves 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 2 beaten eggs 1/2 cup molasses 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce 1/2 brown sugar 1/3 cup milk 1 1/2 tsp. grated ginger root 2 med. pears, peeled, cored, and finely chopped 1/2 cup dried cranberries Pear Frosting 1 1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar 2 Tbsp. Pear Liqueur 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract For bread: Preheat oven to 350°F, and grease 2 loaf pan. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Set aside. Combine eggs, molasses, applesauce, brown sugar, milk, and grated ginger root in a medium mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour the eggs mixture in, all at once.  Fold in pears and cranberries.  Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pans for about 10 minutes before removing, and continue cool...

I adapted this recipe from a few other bread recipes.  It's family approved.  I used my homemade vanilla, locally grown walnuts, and our very own pears and eggs.  Yum.  Last year I canned organic applesauce as well.  I haven't yet this year however.  I sprayed my pans with organic canola oil spray.  I think the 3 pears I cut up, amounted to about 2 1/2 cups.