Category Archives: Cooking

Bacon Makin' Day

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It has occurred to me we haven’t updated on the pigs.  Not sure how that got a way from me…oh wait…never mind, I do.  So, our piggies Saucy and Barbie.  WAY back in November we had the butcher come out to do the dirty work and hang them for us for a few days.  Greg really wanted to do the butchering himself so when we got our pigs back they weren’t wrapped in little white packages like the cow was but rather just cut in half.  It was rather odd to see them in the back of the truck but there they were.  Zoe really wanted to go with him to the butcher to pick them up.  When they got home they entertained the boys and I with a song they made up on the way home.  Sung to the tune of this old man:

This fat man

He ate two

He ate saucy and Bar-B-Q

With a mmm, mmm, Yum, yum gi’me another one

This fat man came rolling home.

What a great way to start our butchering day!  Or as Greg called it Bacon Makin’ Day!  It was a busy day but it was great.  Some experienced friends come over in the morning to get us started on the right track.  We had gone to their house when they did their pigs to get in a little practice and see the whole thing in operation but it was such a blessing to have them come out and get us going.  Greg was cutting outside and we were inside wrapping, grinding sausage, labelling and freezing.  We made 2 different types of sausage, breakfast and hot Italian.   Zoe was a total champ on the grinder.  Especially when our helpers had to leave.  She stepped right in and didn’t stop until we were done.

We took our hams in the next day to have them cured and smoked by the butcher.  Let me tell you…the ham was soooo good.  Huge!  And so incredibly tasty.  When all was done our freezer was over 3/4 full of just pork.  I absolutely love having all of it out the freezer ready to be used.  We will be doing pigs again this year.  We learned a lot and will be applying some changes to the whole process but we are excited to give it another go.

Now it must be said that Zoe loved Saucy best out of the two pigs.  She was a lot more active and loved to play in the mud and run around crazy.  I guess Zoe could relate to this.  So, any time we were eating pork (especially in the beginning) she would say we were eating Barbie.  We don’t eat Saucy.

Pizza Dough

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The following is the dough recipe I use most of the time.  One thing I have not yet tried but will next time is adding a few TB of Parmesan cheese to the dough.  I mean really, there is no way that could be bad.  We have also enjoyed this pizza sauce.  I only made one change and that was to reduce the amount of honey from 2 TB to 1 TB or a little less.  It’s great with a little in there but the full amount made the sauce a distraction to the rest of the flavors.  A lot of the comments also said they mix larger batches of the spices together and keep it on hand to mix with the wet ingredients when they are ready for it.  As for the pesto I just buy the stuff from Costco and add extra garlic.  Someday I’ll make my own and let you know how it turns out.  Enjoy your pizza making!

Pizza Dough:

2 1/2 C flour

1 TB sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 TB yeast

a couple TB olive oil (I just pour out a couple jiggers)

1 C fairly warm water

Knead it all together with a mixer or put it all in a bread machine and select the manual setting.  I usually use my Kitchen Aid and knead it for 5 minutes at setting #4 (med speed).  Kneading for the right amount of time will make a huge difference in your end result.  You want the dough to be sticky to start with.  You may be tempted to add extra flour but restrain yourself!  If it isn’t sticky add a little more water.  As it is kneading it will start sticking together and pulling from the sides.  Your end result will be a light, soft dough and a fluffy crust. 

Once the kneading is done use an oiled spatula and put it in an oiled bowl.  Or you can do what I do and drizzle some oil in the mixing bowl and role the dough around in it to coat all sides of the dough and bowl.  (I don’t like washing more bowls than I have to)  Let it rise for about 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  If you are using a pizza stone put that in the oven while it is preheating.  It will give you a crispier crust.   Spray some oil on your counter and form your pizza(s). 

Prebake your pizza crust for about 5 minutes then pull out, add your sauce and toppings and bake for about 12-15 min.  This recipe will make one large pizza with a thicker crust or two medium pizzas if you prefer a thinner crust.

3 P Pizza

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Something I can not believe I have not shared with you yet is the fabulous 3 P Pizza…Pesto, Pepperoni and Pepperoncini.  Oh, YUM!   A little mozzarella on there and you’re ready.  If your feeling really crazy add some feta on top.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Pesto on pizza is wonderful.  Pesto on just about anything is wonderful. 

Greg and I first experienced this pizza on a camping trip to Winthrop.  They have a great little pizza place called East 20 Pizza.  If you ever find yourself in Winthrop you must stop for pizza.  As soon as we settled ourselves from the trip we had to recreate the pizza.  You must try it.  Your taste buds will love you.

Carb Heaven

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Yesterday, a friend and I made bread.  All kinds of bread.  We were testing out new recipes and going crazy with them.  By the end of the day we had 4 loaves of whole wheat bread, 2 batches of dinner rolls, 2 pizza breads, 2 pesto/feta rolls, 2 batches of cinnamon rolls and a double batch of graham crackers.  Letsjust say I am in carb heaven.  Even with all that there was still time to take a break and enjoy the sun.  Although I did forget to take pictures of the organized chaos in the kitchen.  So, you’ll have to settle for a cute kid instead.  Thanks, Ruth, for your willingness to go crazy in the kitchen with me!   

Baking

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A friend of mine had the great idea to get together to bake.  I am always up for baking and it is way more fun with someone (plus you get the split the goodies and not be forced to eat an entire dish of whatever goodness is created). 

The first recipe on our list…Graham Crackers.  The first recipe we used was not nice at all.  It tasted great but it was so hard to work with.  It stuck to EVERYTHING!  We tried another recipe and loved it.  I’m already thinking we need to make ice cream sandwiches with them this summer.  This is the recipe we tried last.  I think the only change I would make is replace some of the brown sugar with honey.   

 

Here are a couple tips on making crackers:

Tip 1: Do not bake them too long.  It is better to have a slightly chewy cracker than a burnt one.  They will crisp up when cooled. 

Tip 2: Use a cookie cutter.  This will give you a uniformed size and shape so they will all cook at the same rate (and it’s so much cuter!).  A circle cutter turned out some perfect crackers.

Bread Making

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A while back Greg got me this book.  I have loved it!  It explains all those things you wonder about when it comes to bread and things you never considered like the water content of your bread. 

 

 

Most cook books I skip the introductions and get right to the recipes.  With this one I started at the beginning.  So much information and very detailed.  For example do you really know what it means for your bread to be soft and elastic.  Until I read this I really had no idea but she tells you to beat the dough on speed 4 of your Kitchen Aid for 5-7 minutes.   Such a difference!  I love that all of my bread recipes have improved not just the use of her recipes.  OK, I’ll stop now but I just really love this book and I still haven’t read everything.  At some point I just needed to make some really yummy bread.  Like this Cinnamon Swirl Bread.  This is addicting.  It also makes the most wonderful French toast.  I will admit, though, it takes time and planning.  Most of the recipes are not the whip up some bread real quick type recipes.  Just ask Ruth.  We had quite the interesting day making sandwich bread.  Make that two days.  It’s a good things our tummies (and our family’s tummies) were happy with the results.

 

Canning Peaches

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Last weekend we headed to Idaho to visit some freinds.  On the way back we stopped to get peaches for canning.  Our first year for peaches.  We get most of our canning and storing recipes and directions from this site.  Everything we have ever looked for has been there.  They have step by step directions complete with pictures.   

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~ Merriann

Condiment King Strikes Again

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As some of you know I love ketchup, mustard, may-o, as well as many other condiments.  Well in my never ending search for new condiments, I have found one that you too can make at home.   It is onion ring dip… 

Here is the rest of the story…

Over the weekend I was looking for something to snack on and a few months ago Merriann came across this onion string recipe on the http://thepioneerwoman.com/ blog (Which was very tasty which I might add,) so I thought that I would make some.  Well the one thing that it needed was a good sauce.  So I started my search for a blooming onion sauce which led me to this one.  Yes, there are many out there but I really, really love this one.  I got it off of http://allrecipes.com/ site.

blooming-onion-and-dipping-sauce 

Dipping Sauce (6 servings):

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon ketchup

2 tablespoons cream-style horseradish sauce

1/3 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

1 pinch ground black pepper

1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Simply mix everything together let it sit for about 30 minutes, then chow down!  It is a little spicy, but oh so good.  I hope you enjoy, it as much as we did!!

Greg T

Bread Gone Bad

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I have been trying my hand at making sourdough bread.  I haven’t had a good starter yet so they keep tasting like regular old French bread.  This is normally fine since I love French bread too but, this last loaf was horrendous!  It tasted fine (well fine as in my normal “sourdough” would) but it was the ugliest thing I have ever created.  (Unless you can think of something uglier).  I wasn’t going to post a picture at first but decided this blog was not only for your immense pleasure but also for me to remember.  Someday I will look back at this and laugh…who am I kidding…I look at it NOW and laugh.  So, here it is…my ugly “sourdough” bread.

As I was cutting it up to feed to the ducks it dawned on me…croutons!  Let me tell you, ugly bread makes beautiful, yummy croutons.

In case you want to make some of your own take your bread (it doesn’t have to be ugly) brush with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, basil and anything else you think might be yummy (I even put minced garlic on one batch).  Cut up into crouton size pieces and spread on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees checking and stirring every 5 minutes or so until toasted and crispy.  Let cool completely before placing in a sealed container for storage (if they make it that long!)

Making Pumpkin Puree

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For the last few years we have grown or bought pumpkins to make our own puree. In the past I wasn’t all that impressed with it. It honestly didn’t taste any different to me than the Libby’s canned pumpkin. I figured I was just a Libby’s girl and there was no use going through the trouble to puree if it was going to taste the same anyway. This was going to be my last pumpkin pureeing year.

Well, my love for pumpkin has been renewed! We grew sugar pie pumpkins this year. They are the best. After gutting and baking the pumpkin I tried a bite. It was so good. It would have been even better with a little butter and maybe some brown sugar on it…mmm. My family is not quite as interested in pumpkin as I am so I couldn’t get away with having it as a side dish (although it is so good for you) but they do love it in pies and breads. I even made pumpkin pancakes this year.

Eat it just like this…after being cooked but before the puree.  So good.

With all the gardening we have been doing we got a good mill attachment for our mixer. It made making our zucchini relish a breeze so I tried it with the pumpkin. It gave it the perfect consistency. I think this may have been a lot of the problem in past years because I had to use a blender which was always such a hassle. I love the food mill. Our pumpkin pie this year was awesome and I have about 8 more cups of puree in the freezer. Next year we will be growing more pumpkins. Libby…you have been replaced.

~ Merriann