Today in My Life... March 24, 2024

 

I woke up this morning around 2:30 am and for whatever reason could not get back to sleep .. so I got up and moved to my recliner and tried to sleep there for a while.  Both dogs decided to join me so I had no trouble staying warm...however, moving around was a bit stilted... if you get my drift..lol  

Finally I decided to give up the ghost and just get up.  Put the Navy Beans (as my grandmother called them) in water to soak to be cooked for supper tonight, put out bacon to be thawing for breakfast and plopped back down in the other recliner to see if it would be better.  It wasn't.  

So here I am at 5:17 writing for the first time in at least a month.  

We've had rain during the week and thankful is not even a big enough word for what we feel about that.  I've heard all my life the saying "March winds, April rains"... well there was very little wind and finally a little rain, but everyone is sure hoping that April will bring rains and lots of them.  However, we are under a wind advisory beginning tonight for strong winds up to 50 mph into tomorrow noon.  We may get some of those March winds yet.  We'll see.

The rain has brought some of the back yard into bloom.  Love that.  The redbud is bursting out all over and the japonica has already set all the blooms for the lovely cherries that will make jam this year.  Been here 7 years and just learned last year that these beauties are good to eat.  Who knew! 

I took the dogs out around 3am and the neighbor's dogs across the alley were in a massive uproar about something.  No idea what about, but they seemed to settle down within a few minutes. The only sounds heard.  One of the things I love about this time of the day is the peace...quiet...ability to just drift off into thoughts of whatever comes along. 

Have been a little under the weather during this past month... off and on.  Running a slight fever every night for no obvious reason at all... I like to blame it on the 2 teeth I had to have prepped for crowns last week but not sure that's what it was.  Between that and the teeth, it's been a month of doing whatever can be done in a chair.. lol 

I cut up my short nightgown and used it as a pattern to make me a new one.  Had a left over piece of a sheet I had cut up for a project, so I used it and some pretty lace to put together a new one.  The poor old one was on it's last leg!  This one turned out pretty good... if you don't look too closely...lol 

An old friend from Sherman, (Hi Amber!) sent me a message to tell me she was finally getting that spinning wheel she's been wanting for about 10 years.  So HAPPY FOR HER! And she's doing great!  Sent me pics of her yarn.. Started my spinning bug back and I've been happily chugging out my Blue Faced Leicester over the last week or so.  

When it came time to dye it I found that I had 2 cherry Kool Aid packets and one strawberry... sooo... guess what color I got to choose.. lol  But it came out good.  275 yards of 2 ply and about 100 yards of 3 ply (Navajo plied).  No plans yet for a finished product, but we'll see what comes along. 

Been doing some "mindless" knitting with some 2ply handspun that I've had for a while.  It will probably turn into a scarf or a head/ear covering like I made a couple of months ago.  This feels really good so I may end up keeping this for myself.. lol  

Still reading the same series of books by Pedro Urvi.  Can't for the life of me figure out why I'm even reading them..lol  They are definitely written for kids still in school, but somehow got sucked in and can't seem to stop.  Book 11 now... whew... must change!  

And now the time is 6:10 am and I can legally turn on the coffee pot... YAYYYY   I do enjoy a Dr. Pepper every now and then but this one to stave off the coffee addiction is not working.. just sayin'...  :)

I looked at the calendar and so far there is nothing on it for this week except the groomer for dogs.. and hair appointment.  Those two I enjoy.. others not so much.. :)  I have some things I need to get into the mail and the prep for that will take at least a day, but that is the only planning so far for the week.  

I hope you have a wonderful day...full of laughs, friends, hugs.  If you don't get smiles, give one.  :)  

Tea and Toast

 It's a beautiful morning.  Cool 80° now, but weather says it feels like 77°.  It was cooler this morning and I made it out in time to pick the Lemon Balm and Apple Mint.  The Lemon Balm needs to be moved...I think the sun is burning it.. :(  I got it in and washed it a couple of times.. It's on the counter drying now.  Had Lemon Balm tea yesterday and am having Mint tea this morning. 

I don't know what's gotten into me, but I've been on a baking spree for a couple of days.  I made Peasant Bread using the recipe from Alexandra's Kitchen.  Go have a look .. she has many wonderful recipes.  

I've used this recipe many times and the only thing I change is .. I add 1 tbsp. gluten for each cup of flour and 1 tbsp. dough conditioner for the entire recipe.  This makes it just like Wonder Bread..lol.. anyone remember that bread??!!  

The recipe itself is  HERE..

  In the process of spending all that energy,  I also made a Custard Pie.  I can't take credit for just WANTING to make that pie.. The fact is, I'd had that pie crust in the fridge until it was almost out of date.. use it or lose.. ya know..  And my sweet husband likes Custard so it was a win-win ..  

I used a different recipe than I usually do.  It's called Grandma's Egg Custard Pie.  I made it exactly like the recipe .. HERE .. but it calls for an egg white to coat the crust before you bake the pie.  The egg white is supposed to keep the crust from becoming soggy... Well, I didn't want to have an egg yolk sitting around doing nothing, so I skipped that part and just stuck the crust in the hot oven for about 7 or 8 minutes to harden it a bit and voila'.. no soggy crust.  

It actually turned out very well.  My hon says it's the "best pie I've ever had"!  You don't suppose he was buttering me up, do ya??  :) 

I'm a little on the tired side today.  I don't expect to get much done today except maybe knit on my scarf.. I'll show that in another post.. :)

Have a good day.. rest if you need to..Hugs.. 

Doing a Bit of Cooking

Thursday Feb. 3, 2022... Cold, cold, cold.  There is now 5 1/2 inches of snow on the ground with ice crunching underneath the feet as we try to take the dogs out.  It's a pretty useless effort since neither one of our little poodles likes the cold at all. So we are sitting in our chairs for the most part watching the fireplace and being totally glad to  have it. 

Yesterday I made a large "soup".. I'm not sure exactly what to call it.. lol  Hamburger stew and to this one I added Ranch Style Beans... Lovely!  Tastes a bit like taco soup, but much more subtle.  Yum .. 

Jerry decided he wanted a pumpkin pie so I found a recipe for a butter pie crust.. my first.  Not my first pie crust... first butter crust.  It is truly wonderful. Can't seem to find the recipe I used ..but..sigh... this one is almost just like it.   Perfect Pie Crust ... give it a try!

Feb. 4, 2022... Several years ago I found a "tip" on the internet about how to sharpen knives if you don't have a sharpener.  The original idea was to run the edge of your knife around the top of a stoneware crock while turning it over and over.  I've seen my grandmother do this many times over the years.  Since I don't have a crock sitting on my counter, I turned over one of my coffee mugs... worked perfectly.  I do this often now. 

Well, the snow is still with us. The sun is out today but the temp is barely supposed to reach freezing.. it's 11 degrees right now.  Probably not much melting happening today, but maybe a little.  Hoping for enough to allow the doggies a place to go do their business! 

Have a great day today.  Drink lots of hot whatever you drink... I would say hug all your family and friends, but with Covid everywhere that's maybe not such a good idea.. but virtual hugs are ok... 

Home Made Dog Treats... Recipe

I love the flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.  So does my husband.  So do our poodles, Sam and Katie.  It has become almost impossible for us to have them without giving some to the dogs.  Soooo... I decided to come up with a doggy recipe that doesn't have so much sugar in it.

I use the 1 cup peanut butter, 1 egg but I halve the sugar and use only 1/2 cup.  To that I add 1/2 cup flour and enough chicken broth to make a soft cookie dough.  (Believe me.. they are not too worried if I get too much of one thing and not enough of the other..lol )

I first tried making a BIG FLAT SQUARE COOKIE-LIKE THING and cutting it into tiny squares.  It didn't work.  So I got out my cake decorating bags and just didn't put a tip of any kind on it.  It dots out the perfect size tiny cookies onto the cookie sheet.  I bake them at 350° for about 7 to 8 minutes.   The time will vary with individual ovens so just bake until golden brown.  After cooling, I keep them in a gallon size ziploc bag.  They love them.... and we get to eat our own cookies.  :)

Peasant Wheat Bread ... Free Recipe

Beginning in January last year I decided to start cooking.  (Yes, I was already cooking... but I mean "cooking" ).   I came across this recipe for No Knead Bread in some way I can't remember.  I LOVE IT!!  The recipe is at Alexandra Cooks where she has photos for every step.  Her recipe is for regular white bread but she also has hints, tips and other things.  The recipe is on THIS PAGE.

While you're over there, have a look around.  She has some really wonderful recipes!

It's been quite nice the least few days here in North Texas.  Temps in high 50s to mid 70s.  Prior to that we had a truly unseasonable arctic front come through that was seriously out of character for us.  My grandmother always said that "If winter comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb."  We can surely hope so.. :)

Have a wonderful day.

Gluten Free Buckwheat Waffles

My sweet DH has diabetes.  In an effort to find something he would enjoy for breakfast and could eat without his sugar skyrocketing, I tried buckwheat.  What a hit!  He loves them. 

Today was a buckwheat waffles day.  I found the recipe at Cooks.com ... here .  I made a few changes to the recipe.. well, not really changes.  I just added some stuff.  I always add 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice and 1 cup chopped pecans.  Sometimes I add 1/2 cup finely chopped apple.  He can eat these and not raise his blood sugar.. sugar free syrup is a must.. :)

The recipe calls for an overnight wait to let the buckwheat thicken.  This is always best.  Today was a hurry up day, so no waiting.  It's a good thing this makes a lot of batter...  now I can let it set for a couple of hours and then make up what is left into waffles for the freezer.  Love those days when no cooking is necessary for breakfast.. sigh  My sweet DH just grabs some out of the freezer and pops them into the toaster.  Great!

The sun is shining out there today.  Guess this may be the day that I have to go clean the mess off the back porch.  I've been putting it off claiming the heat was too bad... then the wind was too bad.. then I was too tired... hmmm  Are we seeing a pattern here?  lol

Have a wonderful day... Hug anyone who will let you and enjoy that sweet warm feeling.. :)

Today in My Life.. October 25, 2013 (Making Brown Sugar tute)

Today is:  Friday, October 25, 2013

I got up this morning:  with thoughts of the Big Blue Quilt clanging around in my head.  I still haven't decided on an edging color or a binding fabric. Sam was walking all over my feet and had decided he didn't want to wait any longer to get up.. :)  Baby Girl, (this would be Katie)  on the other hand, never wants to get up.  Her whole idea of a great day would be for Sweet DH to stay in bed all day with her right beside him.. :)

I am hearing:  not much... just the whirring of his computer and the ringing in my ears.. :(  I seem to be the only person in world awake this morning.

Out the window:  I see only the reflections of life as we know it in this room.  :)  The darkness turns the window into a mirror.  I can only imagine how it was before the invention of the mirror... everyone standing around waiting for darkness so they could fix their hair.. hahaha  (not really)

I will be wearing:   hmmm ... Today is a stay at  home day (I think), so the choice of the clothes I will wear breaks down to jersey pants and polyester top.. of some form or fashion.

I am thinking: that it's almost Halloween and another year has been slipping by right before our eyes.
I will be getting ready to go to Dear Daughter's tomorrow see our newest great grandson Nathan.  I cannot wait!

I am thankful: for the feel of my DH's hand as he reaches across the bed to touch me in the middle of the night... the smell of tiny apple turnovers cooking... the okra plant that fell over and still decided to produce a few okra... the lovely green of the spearmint plants that are slowly taking over the back flowerbed... my crocs that have the nubs that drive me crazy digging into the bottom of my feet...and more. 

From the kitchen:  comes a test to see how much molasses it takes to make light or dark brown sugar.  I did this yesterday when I realized that I didn't have any brown sugar to make the Tiny Apple Turnovers.  This first photo shows:

1 cup of sugar placed in my small nut chopper
1 tbsp. molasses added
Pulsed for about 20 seconds. 










I could see that this would not be dark enough for the brown sugar I wanted. 









So I added another tablespoon of molasses.  This made a much softer brown sugar and I found that I had to use my spatula to wipe down the walls of the nut grinder bowl and stir the sugar around
between pulses to get a good mix of the molasses and sugar.  The additional pulsing and wiping down took another minute or so.  But I did wind up with just the brown sugar I needed.   And now I know how much of each to add..no more guessing!


Creatively:  I have been hunting for the business sized envelope that I have stashed "somewhere" containing the chamois that I made my leather thimble from.. arghhhh  I know where it is.. the same place as the crazy quilt wall hanging that I have been looking for for the past 3 or 4 months.. I hate that.

Thought for the day:  I once told my mother how down in the dumps I was.. my house was just not pretty anymore.. I hated housework... I didn't want to get up and clean it.. blah blah.. I'm sure we've all been there.  She said.. "Go to town. Buy some little something. A new dishtowel.  A tiny picture to hang in the kitchen or hallway.  New wooden spoons.  New pillow cases.  Go home and use it immediately.  You'll be surprised what a lift that one little thing will bring."  I know she didn't mean that I had to "buy" to make me happy.  She was just saying that a new "something" whether made, gifted to me, found or bought would bring a lift to the job of "same old, same old" at hand.  And she was right.. :)

Have a good Friday and on into the weekend.  :)

Whole Wheat Peasant Bread.. yum yum

I was wandering around the web the other day and found the coolest recipe for the easiest yeast bread I have ever seen.  The web site is a recipe blog called Alexandra's Kitchen.  The recipe is HERE for her wonderful Peasant Bread.  I used her recipe almost exactly to make the first batch..

Oh my... was it wonderful.  Of course I had to eat all of it myself.  While I love the look after cooking them in bowls, the slices were not the right size for my toaster, so I had to toast whatever I wanted in a skillet.. Can't say I minded that either.. ;)

Since my DH is diabetic,  I set about trying to make it using whole wheat flour.  I used 3 cups of whole wheat flour to 1 cup of all purpose flour.  Amazing.. not a problem at all.  It rose up so light and fluffy I was surprised.

I decided to use mini loaves so I could freeze what we were not going to eat right away.  It turns out that he can eat them when I slice the mini loaves into 10 slices.  The slices are just big enough for a lunch sandwich and make wonderful toast..

For the sandwiches, I sliced the loaves lengthwise... perfect....

The weather is just on the coolish side this morning with lots of fog and mist.  It's one of those days you read about in your favorite English novel.. ;) 

Hope all is well with you and yours.. ;)
Hugs...

Cooking... hmmm Recipe for diabetic "Almost Mince"

My sweet DH and I have decided for health reasons to change our diet to eliminate as much meat and sugar as possible.  Counting carbs (diabetes) and also counting cholesterol and fats (heart) means having limited choices.  Yesterday I found that I had a couple of apples that I needed to either eat or cook.. I also had a package of   3½ inch squares of phyllo dough.  So.... here is what I did..  I call it "Meatless Almost Mince"....

2 medium Delicious apples
1 cup chopped pecan/walnut mix
2 tsp. cinnamon (I did this to taste... )
1 tsp. cloves  (I did this to taste..)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg  (I did this to taste .. also.. ;o)
4... 1grain Necta Sweet saccharin tablets 
1/2 cup water
36... 3 1/2  inch phyllo dough squares

I cut the apples (unpeeled)  in quarters and cut them into about 1/2 pieces.  These I placed into my tiny little electric chopper  and chopped until about the size of large grains of rice.  I also chopped 1/2 cup of pecans and then 1/2 cup of walnuts.  I crushed the Necta Sweet tablets between 2 spoons. All of these I placed into a large stainless bowl.  While mixing everything, I added the spices.. a little at a time and tasting as I went to see if I needed to add more. 

I placed the finished mixture into a medium size pan, added 1/2 cup of water and simmered over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When it was finished cooking, I set it aside for a bit to cool slightly and laid out single squares of phyllo dough on a plastic cutting board.  I moistened all edges of the phyllo square, placed a really heaping teaspoon of mixture in the center and then folded the phyllo over the mixture into a triangle.  I used a fork to press and seal the edges.

I placed the triangles in a Baker's Joy sprayed baking sheet and baked at 350° oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.  ( I could only use one piece of phyllo because of the carbs.  If you don't have that worry, you can use 1/2 cup sugar instead of the NutraSweet, add butter to the mixture and use 2 phyllo sheets that have then brushed with margarine to make a more golden, flaky crust.)

Now... what we found.  He could not eat the triangles because of the carbs in the phyllo.  But... he can eat 3/4 cup of the apple/walnut mix as a side dish for chicken, turkey, fish or just plain Eggbeaters and toast!  (I think next time I will add some Rum or Brandy to the mix and a little lemon juice.  That will give it a more Mincemeat flavor than it already has!  And I LOVE mincemeat! )

Today is Easter and I am wishing for all of you a really lovely day...whether you can be with family or not.  ;o)

Crystalized Ginger... Easy Almost Tutorial

I use ginger root in my tea sometimes, but often have lots of that tuber left over to throw away after it shrivels up into nothing.  Today I decided that there was no way I could drink enough tea to use up what I had on the cabinet, so I searched the net and found recipes to crystallize it.  Had no idea it would be so easy. 

First... peel or scrape the ginger. Rinse it off and slice it as thinly as you can.

Put it in a small saucepan and just cover with water.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer and simmer the ginger for 30 minutes.  It should be tender and getting translucent when this step is done.




My sweet DH came in about now and I forgot to take pictures of the next steps. (Did I tell you to open all the windows and turn on all the fans in the house?  I didn't!  Well, perhaps you should.  ;)   I actually like the smell, but some people don't, so better safe than sorry.)

When the 30 minute simmer is done, pour off the water.  Measure the amount of cooked ginger using a food scale or  a dry measuring cup.  Place back in the pan and then add an equal amount of sugar and about a teaspoon of water.  Bring to a boil once again and it will take another 20 minutes or so for the syrup to boil down.  When it reaches the stage that it begins to look like the bubbles that come up when making candy, be sure to stir it constantly until it is almost dry. 

While the ginger is cooking, take a paper plate or something and put about a cup of sugar in it.  Gently spread it around a little.

After the ginger has cooked almost dry, pour it onto the bed of sugar.  Using a fork, spread it around quickly to cover each slice of the ginger.  Spread it out on a paper towel and let it cool and dry out completely.

After the ginger cools and dries, it can be stored in a sealed jar for several months.  The left over sugar has now become "ginger sugar" and can be used in your tea or in baking. 

I love this and will definitely not be without it from now on.  As I was researching ginger, I found that chewing this is good for nausea...among LOTS of other things.

BTW... if you were one of those kids who loved Red Hots  when you were a kid, you'll love this.  Tastes wonderful, but as you go along eating it suddenly it becomes hot and then hotter.  Never hot like a jalapeno tho.. just more like the Red Hot candies..

This was fun... If you try it, I hope you will let me know how your came out.

Have a wonderful day.. ;o)

Soup's On!

It's been raining all day. We had planned a trip to my aunt and uncle's for tomorrow...but... the car is still in the shop and the rain looks like it will be thunderstorming all week... I will give it a few more hours before I call and change our plans... When it rains and gets cold, I always put on a big pot of soup. Yummmm... I love that smell. It will be long before supper, but I never mind smelling it slow cook through the afternoon.

I finished the blue cotton runner. I had thought that I would make placemats that would fit our trays that we eat on, but I kinda like the long runner.

The Japanese Irises are blooming and they are really lovely this year...

The irises in the meadow have begun to really bloom out. It's hard to see in the background to the left, but the purple ones are out too. What a pretty view from back porch....

Friends and Food

Got a phone call last night from a friend in Virginia. She tells me in no uncertain terms that she is tired of seeing that same pic of the car every time she visits here...lol I love it! She raises poodles and tells me she now has a 5 week old chocolate poodle that is gorgeous... I am so envious!


Since DH is diabetic and a total pasta lover (and he can't have it anymore), we are constantly on the lookout for new recipes. He came up with this off the net somewhere and we decided to try it.
This is home made spaghetti sauce over spaghetti squash.

The spaghetti squash is cut in half and placed in a baking dish with cut side down and covered with foil, then baked in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes (depending on the size of the squash) or until tender when punctured with a knife. Then, using a fork and gently sliding it down the length of the squash, you can lift out wonderful short spaghetti. Since I love squash anyway, I loved this. But I did find that as you get into the depth of the "spaghetti", the sweetness of the squash became a little disconcerting against the spiciness of the sauce. So if I were doing it again, there would be smaller portions of the squash and the same portion of the sauce...