Pioneer Woman at Heart

  I brewed up a "Christmas" spice extract last year, and gifted a few bottles for Christmas.  I finally tried it, and made a homemade coffee creamer. I thought the cinnamon/clove flavors would make a nice coffee creamer.  Before I go into a "recipe" for the creamer, I just used online recipes as guides, using maple syrup for the sweetener, and my homemade vanilla and Christmas spice extract.  I ended up adding a 3rd tsp. of the Christmas spice extract for more flavor.  Honestly, I didn't think the extract had enough "spice" flavor in it. I will be trying it in baked goods, and maybe cookies.   I most likely will be adjusting the ingredients to more cinnamon sticks, and maybe more clove for the next batch of this too. Here is how I made the first batch of this extract. In a canning jar (or other glass container) combine the following: - 2 1/2 cups vodka (do not use the bottom line brand) -6 vanilla beans -12 whole cloves -3 cinnamon sticks -6 whole card...

  It's been in the teens, and we are getting more snow.  It's 16 degrees this morning.  I'm thrilled to be getting about an egg a day again.   We got more snow last night, but it's a wet snow.  According to the news weather report, there is another snow storm brewing up. Breakfast side meat has been chicken breakfast patties , and we love them!  They are much better than the turkey ones, and are nice to enjoy between sage sausage and bacon.  If you haven't tried them, they are delicious on their own or in a breakfast sandwich. We tried a new crockpot recipe for black eye peas and ham.  I added collards to it and it was fantastic.  I used the recipe from Skinnytaste online, but used a ham bone and diced ham both (because I had both in the freezer), and again, added collards.  It will be a keeper recipe for sure.  The red bell pepper and jalapeno were also both from the freezer (from last year's garden). What's Cooking? © Januar...

  A winner in the "tried new" recipe category.  So good!  The only ingredient I did not add, was the red bell pepper, because I didn't have any in the freezer at the time.  I will be adding it and making this again.  A keeper recipe. The recipe is online at The Southern Lady Cooks - Slow Cooker Creamed Corn. If you freeze your corn off the cob with butter, you can use that and add less butter too.  I save bacon grease, so I used that, and already had some bacon cooked that was leftover from another meal.  The sugar could be left out too.  I mean, it's only 2 Tbsp, but we freeze our corn with butter and sugar so I can leave it out. A win-win recipe if you freeze your corn off the cob, and freeze your garden bell peppers.  Saving your bacon grease is always a frugal tip I share often. Sharing for those looking for a new side dish for your own meals, or for potluck meals.  I've tried other variations in the past, and we really like this on...

I make this smaller batch recipe of homemade everything bagel seasoning,  but you can increase it for larger spice jars. There are many recipes online for this seasoning.   I use 1 tsp of each of the following: -kosher salt -dried minced garlic (I make mine homemade) -dried minced onion (again you can make this in a dehydrator) -sesame seeds -poppy seeds (all organic) I like to spread cream cheese on snack sized bell peppers, sprinkle the seasoning and sometimes add a few pieces of turkey pepperoni/cooked bacon or other choice of meat on top.  I gave my husband one the other day, and he is in love with this snack idea.  He put his nose up when I mentioned organic cream cheese, but he loves it.  The seasoning is the ticket for flavor.  So good.  I cannot wait for a fresh garden bell pepper this summer. My husband loves it so much, that he asked for his own seasoning shaker to take to work. You could top these with cooked bacon pieces, turkey pepper...

I took this photo at 9am yesterday.  There was hardly any snow on the ground.  It looked the same in the evening.  They predicted 4-7 inches, but it was a wet and heavy snow.  Roads are clear from what I hear, so I'm hoping the upstairs carpet removal resumes today.   As mentioned, I wanted to also share that I also make crocheted mini hearts for embellishing paper clips.  I made homemade cards and gifted the kids with them one year.  They are great to tuck into cards, letters, or surprise gifts.  They make great random acts of kindness gifts as well.  They are easy and inexpensive to make for Valentine's Day gifts too.  I thought I had a post for making these, but I do not see one.  I may just have to get one up. I changed up the menu yesterday.  I tossed together a cabbage/sausage soup and baked skillet bread.  I know my husband has to watch the bread in his diet, so I sent some to work for co-workers.  I linked the...

  I took these photos of the sunrise yesterday.  There won't be many left to view as winter is rolling in.  So beautiful. This is what the view from the porch looks like this morning.  Foggy and raining today.  No sunny sky today. I got so side tracked on my to-do list.  I started in the living room, but realized I need a taller ladder, so that was brought in.  I took more yarn back upstairs, but brought more down, and completely got off track with the living room.  I did however, put a roast in the crock pot, so tonight it's easy leftovers. We are so frustrated with ordering supplies for the living room.  The delivery date on our heater (fireplace) was Nov. 30th.  We've called two times, and each time they say they'll send an email to get more information on why it's not been shipped yet (and they never followed up/called us back).  I have brought in our small electric heaters we used to use in the pop-up camper.  It's taking ...

  I dug out the donut pan and baked some pumpkin/cardamom donuts.    The results?  Well, they were good and dense.  However, I felt the recipe I tried, lacked in flavor.  I'd add more cinnamon and nutmeg to it.  They were very easy to make, and I'd consider trying other recipes, just for kicks  This recipe used a small amount of butter, and I used half whole wheat flour. It's something "fun" for a gathering, or when you need individual servings and don't want to bake bread and slice it. (Recipe is online with Kitchen Addiction) I sat down yesterday and wrote a letter to my only living Aunt.  I realized I have not been in touch with her.  I am glad I kept stationary now.  Although it's much quicker to type a letter, I do love the ol' pen and paper. The weather is beautiful, but it appears rain is possible towards the weekend.  I don't have much to pull from the garden.  The rest is in grow bags.

We are getting hit with a ton of rain and wind.  Flooding is happening in some areas.  The temperature has really dipped too.  We woke up to 48 degrees this morning. I went scrambling for my chili recipe and could not find it.  I think I have too many tab options in my recipe box ha ha! I found it in the "camping" recipes, but I adjust it to make on the stove and in the crock pot. I basically cook the bacon and ground beef first on the stove top (or oven). Then put all remaining ingredients in the crock pot.  I add jalapeno for some heat too. I'm putting the recipe here, but if you want to make it over a campfire, you'll need a dutch oven and hot coals. Dutch Oven Chili 2 lbs. ground beef, organic 1/2 lb. bacon, organic 2 5.5 oz. cans tomato paste, organic 2 large yellow onions, diced 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 Tbsp. chopped celery (optional) 2 tsp. cumin 2 - 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes (I use frozen garden tomatoes when I have them)...

  The boys also shoveled me a path to get to the other side of the drive, but I needed to shovel out getting into the coop.  There was snow in the coop and a huge drift in the run.  Lovely. We got 12 inches of snow by Tuesday morning.   We have 17 inches on the ground.  A nephew came and plowed us out, but more snow is coming.  Sigh. They predicted -8°F last night.  I filled water jugs.  Woke up to a wind-chill of -11°F.  I made sure there was plenty of food for leftovers for today too. Daughter K made it to work yesterday, as the downgraded us before she had to be to work (level 3 is a level the Sheriff can give you a ticket for being on the road). She got to work, but said all the stores in the strip she works in were closed.  She just wanted to go home, as the roads are still not good and no one was shopping (as should be). Youngest was told she should not go to work, and if the salon opened, they'd just have two people there....

  We have started ripping out the carpet in the hallway.  We started on the lower level due to the baseboard heater.  However, once the carpet was out, we realized the builders put the heater flush with cement, so we'll have to do some cutting that we didn't expect (of the flooring).  Also the tack boards were installed with nails into the cement, so it took a hours to pull them all out.  King says "Hello."   So far it's been 3 trips to Home Depot.  I know there will be another one, but this morning we will be cutting and splitting wood first.  Then it's back to the hallway if we have time. We will be replacing the blinds in both large hallway windows as well, so I must add that to my list or it'll be yet another trip to town.  The blinds are broken (just old).   There was a request for the recipe for Hot Pepper Mustard Sauce.  Here is the recipe link .  I was given this recipe by a family friend's mother who has sinc...

Yesterday morning I piddle-dinked away on the procrastination station (computer). I picked out some new recipes to try, printed out a crochet pattern, and after 15 attempts to get the wood stove fired back up, I finally went out to the barn to retrieve cut barn wood boards for kindling. Although I said yesterday that I'd take the day slow, I decided to wash bedding, remake the bed.  Boy oh boy, was Tiger mad at me - kept meowing until the bed was remade (ha ha ha!). It'll be the first year my husband and I won't exchange gifts.  We would like to buy ourselves a new TV (if the price is right).  We are gifting the girls that are living here, and one has a birthday just before Christmas.  No gift card buying either.  I'm afraid I'd get them for each, and the business could close from another shutdown (local winery, brewery, gift shops etc). My dehydrated onions came in handy yesterday for dinner prep.  I didn't want to cut a fresh onion for only 3 Tbsp.  ...

The kale in the garden was a complete fail.  No harvest.  What didn't get eaten up by bugs was fried in this years drought. Collards don't look good, but there is hope for the chard.  Have no idea on the root veggies yet.  The turnips I did pull were small. Tried a new recipe - frozen peanut butter pie!  Delicious.  Hubby was happy to have a cold dessert after a long hot day. By the way, we got rain last night.  Not a lot, but more than the last time. Almost stepped on this guy yesterday.  They day before that I almost stepped on a snake. Made a batch of homemade Kahlua.  I gifted this one year for Christmas.  Recipe is online and easy to find. I won't be gifting this batch.  Once it's done, strained and re-bottled, I'll be trying a new recipe with it. Made myself my first mint julep.  Very refreshing. Made my Mom's Dried Beef casserole for dinner last night. I needed something easy. R...

Apparently, in this pandemic time, people are going crazy over "fair food."  One restaurant started it.  They dedicated one night for serving a drive thru with just fair food.  I didn't go, but the entire town (Big City) went.  I heard there was a 3-4 hour wait in line.   The next day, the town announced that fair food vendors will be set up this weekend at the fair grounds for selling food.  I am sure that will end up a crowd too. I decided to do a fair food night at home.  I made homemade corn dogs with real beef dogs and homemade batter. We also made hand cut fries to go with them, but that's not all.  I started us out with a batch of homemade sopaipillas, an old, old high school recipe from Spanish class.  We used to make them and sell them at lunch at school to raise money for our Spanish class.  They are like mini elephant ears you'd get at the fair.  Just for the update, all the fairs have canceled their fair t...

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Yield:  12 You don't even need a mixer for this dough! Step 1:  1/4 warm water with 2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet) - allow to dissolve for 5 minutes. In a large bowl add: 1 cup warm water 1/3 cup sugar Stir. Then add dissolved water and yeast 1 organic egg, beaten 2 tsp. homemade vanilla extract Using a wooden spoon add 2 cups of organic all purpose flour.  Stir for at least 100 strokes with the wooden spoon.  Cover bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and allow to sit for 15 minutes. It will look like this after 15 minutes. Step 2:  Add: 1 1/2 tsp. salt Then add: 4 Tbsp. organic butter, softened Add: 1 3/4-2 cups more flour, adding it about 1/2 cup at a time.  Stir well each time you add flour. Flour your hands and knead the dough right in the bowl when you can't stir it any long (2-3 minutes). Step 3: Place the ...