Brussels Spouts in a castiron pan with butter and garlic.  

Can you hear them sizzling? 

Can you smell that delicious golden butter?

Can you see them popping and jumping around in the pan?

A very happy Autumn meal indeed.

pleasing to the eye

...the taste buds and the tummy...

Cool Summer Drink

Sparkling Lemonade Floats

• 1/2-3/4 cup sugar (1/2 for tart, 3/4 for sweet)*
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup lemon peel strips (from 2 lemons)
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
• 1 cup cold water
• vanilla ice cream
• club soda or sparkling wine {I used Sierra Mist}, chilled

1. Stir together sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir in lemon strips. Simmer for five minutes. Allow to cool. Stir in lemon juice. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove strips and pulp. Stir in 1 cup cold water. Refrigerate to cool completely.
2. To make floats: Scoop ice cream into glasses. Pour lemonade 1/2 to 3/4 full. Top with club soda. Garnish with lemon slices if desired. Serve immediately.

Serves: 4-6 (depending on glass size)

*For this recipe I definitely prefer the lemonade on the tarter side because you’ll be adding more sweetness with the ice cream. But it really depends on your personal preference.


THIS IS SO GOOD!!!!

I found the recipe here at Kitchen Simplicity...

Pretzels

I made these yesterday and they were SO good!! :)

Makes 16 pretzels:

1 package active dry yeast

1½  cups warm water

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 ¼ to 4 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 egg, beaten

Coarse salt

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Add the sugar and the 1 teaspoon salt.  Gradually stir in the 4 cups of the flour to make a dough; add additional flour if the dough is too sticky.
2. Turn our the dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total).  Shape the dough into a ball.  Place the ball in a greased bowl; turn once to grease the surface of the dough.  Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 45 minutes). 
3. Punch down the dough.  Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface.   Cover the dough and let it rest  for 10 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°.  Roll the dough into a 12x8- inch rectangle.  Cut the dough rectangle into sixteen 12x 1/2 inch strips.  Gently pull each dough strip into a rope about 16 inches long.
5. On a greased baking sheet, shape each dough rope into a pretzel by crossing 1 end over the other to form a circle, leaving about 4 inches at each end.
6. Take 1 3nd of the dough in each hand and twist once at the point where the dough overlaps.  Carefully life each end across to the opposite edge of the circle; tuck the ends under to make a pretzel shape.  Moisten the ends with water and press to seal them in place.  Brush the tops of the pretzels with the beaten egg.  Sprinkle with the coarse salt.
7. Bake in the 350° oven about 18 minutes or until the pretzels are lightly browned.  Transfer the pretzels to a wire rack to cool.

Moistening the ends of the shaped pretzels with water before sealing them will help keep them in place so that they don't pop up.

If you prefer, you can sprinkle the pretzels with poppy seed or sesame seed (or even cinnamon and sugar!) instead of the coarse salt in this recipe.

Store any leftover pretzels in an airtight bag or a covered container.

--From Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook--

Zuppa Toscana with Yogurt Cinnamon Muffins

Yum! Just the title makes me hungry! :)

Here is a link to the soup...  Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana

All right, for the soup I mixed things up a bit.  When I cook I like to do it by eye.  If it looks like I want more meat, potatoes, water... you name it... whatever it is I will add more, less or whatever makes me feel good.  Good way to follow recipes, hu? Anyways, I will show you how I adjusted the recipe and I must admit, it turned out pretty good! 

________________

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 1 large diced white onion
• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces
• 2 tsp garlic puree
• 10 cups water
• 5 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• ¼ of a bunch of kale

1. Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
2. In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
3. Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
4. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve. Delicious!

** I used 1lb of Italian sausage, like it says, but I used about 2 generous tsp of peppers. When I make it again I will definitely use less pepper flakes due to the fact I felt like a dragon afterwards. Plus, my family isn't exactly fond of hot stuff.  I'd say maybe a generous 1 1/2 tsp would still pack the heat.    I used 1 large diced white onion, a VERY generous 4 T of bacon pieces and also 2 generous tsp of fresh garlic. For the bacon I would suggest frying it well before adding the onions and also cutting it into small pieces.  If you don't fry the bacon before hand it makes it slightly mushy while eating.   I used about 7-8 cups of water instead of the 10.  I used 4 generous tsp of chicken bouillon.  I used the whole cup of heavy cream and also 3 large potatoes.  I used a little over 1/2 a bunch of kale. Also, I put the kale in shortly after I put the potatoes in so that it would have time to soften.  I'm not particularly found of crispy kale in my soup. 

________________

Here is the book that has the muffin recipe in it... Mad about Muffins

Here is the recipe for the muffins:

• 2 cups minus two tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

 Heat oven to 400 degrees.   In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and salt.  In a large bowl, combine the egg, yogurt, butter, and vanilla extract.  Beat together until blended.  Add the dry ingredients and stir just until they are moistened.  Fill greased muffin tins.  Bake 10- 15 minutes or until the muffins are lightly browned.  Serve warm.  Makes one dozen muffins.

* I doubled my recipe when I made it.  Very good, especially if you put some butter and honey on it.  :) YUM!

Blustery Day Yumminess

Today I had the whole day off of work and so I decided to cook up something delicious for supper.

Main course:

Veggie Tortellini Soup

Bread:

Rosemary Focaccia

Dessert:

Golden Apple Pie

::Perfect for a chilly, blustery day with wind gusts of up to 60mph::

It's Smokin'!

Caleb smoked a pork for us the other night on his new-homemade-smoker and it was DELISH! Wow! He also made this fabulous vinegary-spicy sauce to go over it...delectable! It was definitely worth the wait! Thanks bro. :)

The master cook... or should I say smoker. :)

Pizza

Pizza Recipe

she knows the ways

My Mom knows what I love. She knows that it's impossible to have warm crusty bread without our tomato topper. Thanks Mom...

1-2 T. Olive Oil
1 T. Cider Vinegar
1 Green Onion Chopped
4 large cherry tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
1 T. Basil (dry)
Moz. Cheese shredded
Can add garlic

Mix together and put on bread.

brown rice

beautiful....

Maple Mocha Pops

2 C. heavy whipping cream

1/2 C. half-and-half cream
1/4 C. maple syrup
1/4 C. chocolate syrup
1 Tbs. instant coffee granules
12 popsicle molds or paper cups (3 ounces each) and Popsicle sticks


In a small bowl, whisk the whipping cream, half-and-half, maple syrup, chocolate syrup, and coffee granules until coffee is dissolved. Fill molds or cups with 1/4 cup cream mixture; top with holders or insert sticks into cups. Freeze. Yield: 1 dozen.

~Taste of Home Recipe

These are sooooo yummmyy!!!

A Peaceful Evening With Friends and Family

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

Sugar Drying

SaLsA

-Pizza Recipe-

You all might remember when I posted about making my homemade pizza and bread sticks? Well here is the recipe.


Pizza Crust

2 ½ to 3 cups all purpose or bread flour
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt.
1 package regular or quick active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 cup very warm water


In large bowl, mix 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast. Add oil and warm water. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour until dough is soft and leaves sides of bowl. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead 5 to 8 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes. Continue as directed below for thin crusts or thick crusts.


For Thin Crusts: Heat oven to 425°. Grease 2 cookie sheets or 12-inch pizza pans with oil. Divide dough in half. Pat each half into 12-inch circle on cookie sheets. Partially bake 7 to 8 minutes or until crust just begins to brown. Add toppings and back as directed.

For Thick Crust: Grease two 8-inch square pans or 9-inch round pans with oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Divide dough in half. Pat each half in bottom of pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size. Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 375°. Partially bake 20 to 22 minutes or until crust just begins to brown. Add toppings and bake as directed.

Bake thin-crust pizzas at 425° for 8 to 10 minutes, thick crust pizzas at 375° about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.


On my pizza I like to spread a pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce on the crust. Then I put mozzarella cheese on top of that, then pepperonis or whatever I have handy. Green peppers are really good too. Then I sprinkle some cheese and pizza seasoning on the top.


P.S.
(I usually double the recipe so I can make 2 pizzas and bread sticks. And I also put half regular flour and half wheat flour. It makes it taste really yummy.)


For the bread sticks I just make a regular recipe of Pizza Crust and spread it out onto a 17x11x1 pan (A jelly roll pan). Then in a bowl I take a half a stick of softened butter, some oregano, a spoonful of minced garlic and garlic salt. I then mix it together and spread it onto my pizza crust and let it raise. Before I stick it in the oven at 425°, I sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on the top and bake for 10-12 minutes or until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and the cheese looks melted.

~Today~

Hello! Here are some pictures from what happened during my day today. :)

<---My brother E and I were playing Monopoly, and at this point I'm winning. ( My spot is on the bottom) :) But in the end I lost. *sigh* :)











Biscuits...Mmmm:)


(This is the sausage gravy that we put over the biscuits. Mmmmm good stuff!)



(below: This is what it looks like together. And an egg. )