Autumn Cheque....

Oh, today dawned with glorious Autumn in the air...  snappy, misty...  brown leaves!  Wait, it's only August...  We in the Midwest wait to learn exactly how Mother Nature plans to play with our seasons...  Each one seems on a fast past to enter and whoosh away in record time.  Our spring began in late February, summer well underway in April.  The old timers (Shut up,  I know I'm one of those now, but I refuse to believe it) prophesy a long, hard, cold winter snap coming early and staying late.

My young students believe in the Farmer's Almanac because it rarely misses a big snow.  I rely on my Family Curse Knees to forecast a Noreaster and a bad snap...

Clearly we are ready for a change.  My sweet little Air Force Wife recent graduate currently weathers a huge Typhoon in Okinawa, and a dear friend in Florida has gathered provisions in case Isaac comes her way.  We had a quarter in of rain on Saturday!  It felt like a deluge and everyone around us was simply in awe...  Water comes from the sky?  Who'd a thunk it?  How long we have waited....

Yesterday I tried a yummy chicken wrap for my family.  The marinade was amazing..  I want to make it again and use the chicken in stir fry or pannini.

Sweet and Savory Chicken Wraps
Adjust the amount made to fit the number of chicken breasts.  I cooked four, but I butterflied them, so it was more like 8.

1/2 c. oil
1/2 c.  soy sauce
1/3 c. peanut butter
3 T. steak seasoning like SeasonAll or any salt-pepper combination
2 -3 shakes hot sauce


I put all that in a big zip lock bag and then scrunched in my chicken breasts.  I let them marinate in this in the refrigerator about 90 minutes.

Julienne a red or yellow pepper and marinate in a mixture of half honey and half cider vinegar.

Grill chicken breasts and allow to rest ten minutes before slicing thin.



Assemble Wraps in following order:

Tortilla
Layer of Sweet and Sour Sauce
Chicken
1 1/2 slices Provolone Cheese
Drained, marinated Vegetables
2-3 t. Chow mein vegetables from a can, drained

Roll up and slice in half.  Secure with a toothpick.

I am a Rock Star!

Tonight I created a yummy individual zucchini casserole.  First I  diced one zucchini and 2 medium farmer's market tomatoes.  I simmered those in 1 and 1/2 c, water, 1/2 stick butter, 1 t. pepper, 1 T. Italian seasoning, 1 t. minced garlic.  When the zucchini was tender, I added a pkg. of Stovetop Dressing mix.  I spooned it into the ramekins and topped with 2 oz. cheddar.  I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes.....  It was really soothing to our jangled spirits. ----  Be impressed. It is absolutely all I accomplished all day.

A Gentle Fourth....

Shhh!  America is sleeping....  but quite rightly, now is the very day, hour, minute we must wake up and take back some control over what and who is dominating our sweet land.......

Happy Birthday, Lady Liberty!

 A slower look at the land we love...  Saturday's drive through Amish Country brought us some divine garden produce we are having today to celebrate Independence Day...

 Irony:  that vignettes so picturesque cannot be photographed with respect to these sweet individuals.... I don't take faces in my photos...

 Happy Fourth of July, wherever your road takes you....

Pioneer Woman's Comfort Meatballs ---  A perfectly lovely choice.  Check out her blog for photos and comments here

INGREDIENTS

• FOR MEATBALLS
• 1-½ pound Ground Beef
• ¾ cups Oats
• 1 cup Milk
• 3 Tablespoons Very Finely Minced Onion
• 1-½ teaspoon Salt
• Plenty Of Ground Black Pepper, to taste
• _____
• FOR COOKING MEATBALLS
• 1 cup All-Purpose Flour (coating For Frozen Meatballs)
• Canola Oil
• _____
• FOR SAUCE
• 1 cup Ketchup
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
• 4 Tablespoons (to 6 Tablespoons) Onion
• 1 dash Tabasco

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.

Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.

Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crusty French bread.

Pink, cool thoughts on a hot summer's day

Once upon a time.....  We had a little cake on a hot summery day...  The fresh, pink icing swirled just so....  Somewhere my gramma had found the little round sprinkles that barely stick on without rolling all over the gray, Formica-topped table...

Large spiraled bottles of Double-Cola, the off-brand of choice in our family, sat open, ready to pour on the ice cracked from aluminum trays.   Multicolor aluminum glasses would soon hold court over the party.  Our family spared the cola, just one precious half bottle per afternoon.... If any at all.

------ and then that happiest of little cake parties is gone, vanished......  Should I stand like that long ago little girl, clutch my heart, and cry the forsaken, left alone and lost sob of a scared child?  Probably not...

In place instead are other treats, other parties, other dear ones to share our lives....
Memories are gifts to help us, not debilitate with sorrow, nostalgia, regret....
Enjoy....  it's so short a ride.....

Cool Cat Macaroons

Our family loves to play Spinner!  We play on Sundays and on Tuesday evenings if we get a chance.... Our tradition is to wait for dessert until the fives....  Today we had cinnamon sugar cookies and home baked macaroons.   Yum!

Easiest recipe ever:  Coconut Macaroons

2 1/2 c flaked coconut

1/3 flour

1/8 t. salt

2/3 c. sweetened condensed milk

1 t. vanilla extract

In small bowl mix ingredients in order given.  Batter will be very stiff.  Drop by Tablespoon on greased baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.

I would love to have a helper like this!

Treats of Spring

Everywhere the Bradford Pears speak Spring...

You must try these 'Smore Mini Bites from Giada ---  with or without the spring bonfires!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quinoa flour
• 3/4 cup mini marshmallows
• 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 4 large graham crackers, finely crushed
• Special equipment: a 24-count mini-muffin pan, 24 mini-muffin cup liners, such as Betty Crocker mini-size baking cups

DIRECTIONS

Cook's Note: Quinoa flour is available at health food stores.

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 24-count mini-muffin pan with paper liners.

Heat the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add 3/4 cup of the mini chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.

Using a small cookie scoop, fill each paper liner with about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter. Push 3 mini marshmallows halfway down into the center of the batter. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the graham cracker crumbs over the marshmallows. Bake until the marshmallows are puffed and light golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes and serve.

Welcome to the Gingerbread Kitchen

 Last night after my family had left and Mom was sitting in her favorite chair, I decided to take the newest gingerbread goodies, a gift from my friend Karla, and fix up a magical gingerbread kitchen.

 Karla gave us these pretty, tall gingerbread people, the pretty glass cannisters and the placemats that match..  Along with her ornamental cupcakes and candy, this corner of the kitchen reminds me of the window displays in St. Louis Stix, Baer and Fuller...  We used to go once a season to see the Ice Capades and visit the shops with Santa and his elves...

 The yellow tin is a perfectly awesome tin of Harney's tea blended for the Royal Wedding....  In the silk sachets are rose petals, blue cornflowers, and marigold...  along with tea, or course...  and vanilla pieces.  It is one yummy cuppa tea!

 Don't you love their happy faces?

 On the north wall, we have a gingerbread village mixed in with Mom's flow blue dishware collection.  I just bought the tall gingerbread girl and the lifelike popcorn tree and popcorn balls from my favorite Randolph Mercantile...

 If I could imagine myself tiny and festive, I would walk along those streets and visit every shop to try to finish up my holiday gift buying...  No black Friday for me!!!!

 She looks real, but she isn't...  Do you love gingerbread?  I confess I haven't had much real gingerbread.  I like gingersnaps from the store, and when I was young, my grandmother made Laura Ingalls Wilder's gingerbread cake... It was dark and tangy, kind of mysterious.  We always mixed up a form of cool whip called Dream Whip from a box, and it often had a little runnier texture than Cool Whip...  Gramma was a bit heavy on the vanilla, and that dream whip was food of the gods!!!!  She poured it over this cake when Christmas time came, and I thought I was ON Little House on the Prairie!!!

 One time Gramma offered to give me 100 dollars if I lost 50 pounds...  I thought that was a bunch of money back then, so I accepted the challenge..  the very next night when I got home from school, she had made this gingerbread...  (I think it was sabotage)---

 Those pounds have long been lost.....  and found again!!!!  And I would love to taste this lovely concoction again this season...  I found her recipe, so I may try it soon...  Bake it as you risk because gingerbread isn't for everyone...  I know my daddy didn't love it, and actually I'm not sure if I did or not...  Tastes change, but memories stay beautiful...

Have a fun weekend...  My vacation days have been fun, and the weekend isn't quite over yet...  Hallelujah!

 LAURA'S GINGERBREAD

1 cup brown sugar blended with 1/2 cup shortening. 1 cup molasses mixed well with this. 2 teaspoons baking soda in 1 cup boiling water (Be sure cup is full of water after foam is run off into cake mixture). Mix all well. To 3 cups of flour add one teaspoon each of the following spices: ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sift all into cake mixture and mix well. Add lastly 2 well-beaten eggs. The mixture should be quite thin. Bake in a moderate oven for thirty minutes. Raisins and, or, candied fruit may be added and a vanilla frosting adds to the goodness.