It's such a Peachy Day!

This past weekend I had just finished telling my daughter that I wasn't going to can any peaches. Just maybe make some jam and freeze a few. Then a friend of ours was offering peaches for sale so I order a bushel.
Feeling as I have been, I've been trying everything including changing my diet and one of those things is cutting out white sugar. I'd have to say after a couple of weeks I'm feeling a little better. It wasn't like I was eating a lot of sugary things but like I said I'm giving anything a whirl. Maple Syrup or honey has become my choice of sweetener for most things all ready but now the ban on white sugar has become hard core.
Canned fruit is usual laced with lots of sugar but ever since I started canning I've never followed the recommended sugar for the recipe. I've always cut way back but this time I wanted to cut it out all together.
So while checking out some wartime recipes for fun I noticed canning fruit in their own syrup. Then I surfed around the world wide web some more and found this holy grail of recipes.  Maple Vanilla Canned Peaches.

I've cut back on the maple syrup using only one cup to 5 cups of water and found it plenty sweet. I also used some really good pure vanilla instead of the bean. I gave this nectar around to all who entered my home for a taste and it passed the taste test with flying colours.

If you are looking to can up a couple of jars I highly recommend giving this recipe a try, I'm pretty sure I'm never going back to plain old sugary peaches again.:)

Pancake Tuesday!!

It's here! The day set aside to use up your lard before lent!
I'm always amazed at how long ago these traditions started and how we've kept up those traditions so many years later.  I think I can let that lard part of the tradition go though. :)
The pancake itself is old, think Ancient Greece old and you get the picture. But oh how times have changed for the griddle cake and it's not just a breakfast food anymore. I find you can have one of these satisfying flapjacks anytime of day!

Let's start with Martha Stewart's basic pancakes. This is the traditional pancake you'll expect to find for todays big day. Just butter and maple syrup and your good to go!

Now lets bring it up a notch.

Lindsey from Dash of Nostalgia brings us Pumpkin pancakes. I don't know about you but I like pumpkin anytime of year and who could resist a plateful of these.

These next pancakes in my opinion would blow the roof off your pancake day and if you've never tried a Chocolate pancake then my friends you don't know what you're missing.

Check out Cooking Classy's pancakes. She's got a few other pancake recipes to get your creative juices  flowing as well.

So what will it be? Plain jane or over the top? I'm doing a little of both. Sticking with the plain pancake then dressing it up with fresh fruit and whipped cream. I may even get a little crazy and add some candy sprinkles. :)

Pinterest #5

When I was a little girl every winter I'd spend one week of it sick in bed. Mumps, tonsillitis, stomach bug, colds, I was a ticking time bomb through out the winter months till something hit.

I should have known something was up the other day when I had the urge to watch " The Bugs Bunny Show". When I was sick being entertained by a rabbit who would occasionally dress as a woman was a treat. It happen to air while we were having supper so I could only ever catch a few toons here and there. When I was sick I got to watch the whole hour.
So last week when a nasty cold took hold sitting under a cozy blanket and watching Netfilx was about the only thing I wanted to do. That and play with yarn in an attempt to conquer knitting socks. I'd have to say I'm close, not perfect but close.

My Pinterest Challenge also took a back seat last week so this week I'll have two for you.

Today's is Homemade "Oreo" cookies.
As we know homemade is usual better but when it comes to knocking off a store bought brand can they compare?

Here is the original Pin

 and the site the recipe comes from.

I shall start with the taste test. Yes, comparably speaking they taste very close to the middle fiddling cookie but you know the homemade version is filled with things you can pronounce. So that's a plus all the way!

I had a little trouble with the recipe itself though. I found that the amount of flour used in the ingredients was not enough and I had to keep adding to the cookie dough because my first batch turned out like this.

She said the dough needed to be dry so I compared the dough to what my rolled sugar cookie would be like. Apparently mine wasn't dry enough but by the end and after adding a lot more flour I got a cookie that resembled the recipe.

I debated on just making crumbs from the not so nice ones but made them into cookies too.

So would I make these again? No. I don't buy Oreo's all that often to begin with and truthfully the amount of time it took to make these cookies I don't think I could be bothered. 

Fun to try but not a keeper in my books. :)

Pinterest # 4

On my " I really want to try this" list last year was Cranberry Pumpkin Seed Bread. But then I put it out of my mind and didn't think about it anymore and not even Thanksgiving or Christmas had me thinking to give this bread a try. Now for some reason this time of year has me hankering for homemade bread and my mind wandered back to wanting to try this bread.

This Pinterest find was a little hard to come by and what I did find wasn't really what I wanted. I wanted a nice simple whip up any time bread, not a sweet dessert loaf.  I wanted to be able to take my smoked turkey, lettuce, tomato and maybe my basil mayo ( I go either way with mayo, sometimes yes sometimes no..) on this fun bread.

Not finding what I wanted had me go to my tried and true Raisin Bread recipe. I just omitted the cinnamon which in case your wondering is 1 tsp. Because this bread is slightly sweeter then regular bread I thought it would compliment the saltiness of the smoked turkey better.

For one loaf here's the recipe.

1 cup + 1 tbsp warm water
2 1/2 cups white flour
2 tbsp dry milk
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1 pkg yeast or
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
3/4 cup cranberries
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

I used a mixer to knead the bread but by all means use those muscles and knead the dough till it forms a nice bread ball and isn't sticky anymore. (I'm not much of a timer on this I go by my eye and when it looks good I stop.) This is when you add your berries and nuts. Continue kneading till everything is incorporated. Cover with towel and let rise in a warm place till doubled in size. (about an hour)
Then take it out, give it another light kneading and form your loaf. I chose a greased loaf pan but you could probably form a ball on a tray and have a more rustic loaf. Let rise till doubled again and bake.
Here's where I differ from some recipes. I prefer to bake mine at a lower temp, 370 to be exact only because I think the temperature in my oven is out of whack. You may want to consult other bread recipes and come up with a temperature you're happy with.
Normally I'm a whole wheat bread eater but for my first try it always seems easier to go all white. Thanks Gluten! Next I'll be trying out a whole wheat loaf and see how it goes but the boys gave this loaf 2 thumbs up.
 If any one has another recipe for this bread I'd be interested in giving it a whirl! :)

Summer

My house smells like summer today. Late summer to be exact because today I'm making salsa.

We all enjoy the spicy treat in our house and it's something we eat a lot of. I also enjoy canning my own but it's a time consuming job ( unlike jam that only takes 1/2 hr to an hour). This year I decided to freeze my batches and make them when the mood, or bare cupboard invited me too.

 I did can up a lot in the summer, but here is my thinking; if I had canned everything in the fall I would have had to buy a lot more jars, this way I don't. I do this with jam too. I make a variety and freeze the rest of my fruit in batches. Strawberry jam is waiting in the wings as well for today.

It's a comforting feeling to know that I have grown and canned my own food. I can pronounce everything that has gone into it and that for me is truly a " Victory Garden". :)

Want the recipe, you'll find it here.  Its the tastiest I've found.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Yesterday our church did something they haven't done in a while. Put together a bit of a mystery dinner. You could either sign up to be a host or a guest. As a host you put down the number of people you can accommodate and as a guest how many will be going. You have no idea who will be arriving on your doorstep till the day of as a host, or whose home you're going to be going to as a guest.
I signed up as a host, and I will have to tell you that it was a fair bit out of my comfort zone. The not knowing began to get to me a little, the night before. But since I want to step out of being comfortable all the time, this really was a good thing and turned out to be such a fun thing to do.

Now for the food. The other thing you begin to wonder, are they going to like what you've made, so you cross your fingers and hope. I believe what I made turned out alright and here it is.

Lasagna Soup. I found the recipe on pinterest but didn't actually pin it or like it, silly me. Not on purpose but because it was so simple, I just added the ingredients to my shopping list, and memorized it. Now I can't find this recipe. So if its yours, please speak up so I can give you the credit you deserve!

 Here it is.

900 ml of chicken broth
1 340 ml can of diced tomatoes
1 340 ml can of pureed tomatoes
1 pd ground meat of your choice.
1 lg onion
1-2 cloves garlic
6-8 crushed lasagna noodles or 1/2 box pasta of your choice.

Brown your meat and sauté your onions and garlic.
Add everything else, but the pasta. Simmer away.

Cook your pasta separately till its almost done and then add it to the soup, along with a cup of the pasta water. Simmer a little longer until noodles are completely cooked.

Season your soup to taste. I added a bit of Italian seasoning to mine.

Garnish with a spoonful cottage or ricotta cheese

and top with a healthy dose of mozzarella

See, super simple, and it was quick to make. I also think it would make a great crock pot soup, but again add your pasta at the end in the same manner as above, or you'll have very soggy noodles.

Since this is the winter that won't end, its a great one to add to your comfort food list. :)