Pumpkin Bisque and Cracked Wheat Bread

Today was cold and rainy. I liked today! Fall has officially settled in and with it the leaves are starting to turn all those beautiful jeweled colors. On cold days like today I think soup is one of the most warming foods, it nourishes body and soul.

I chose to make Pumpkin Bisque, don't you just love the sound of it? Bisque instead of SOUP, much more lovely of a sound! In truth I still have not made it to Green Bluff so I settled for the canned type, and while its not my favorite it did oh so well in this divine bisque!

Of course I got the recipe off the internet and I would give it to you save for the fact that I didn't follow it~~well I did but then I added more to it because it tasted bland. I will tell you of this delightful spice that not many know of, its called Fennugreek and it looks like this. It has a wonderful flavor. I find it in the bulk section at WINCO.

So along with my Bisque I made a home made Cracked Wheat Bread. Cracked wheat is a traditional favorite food in my family since I was a little girl. Today I boiled up some and put it in my bread along with flax seed and then I topped it off with sesame seeds. It was a very sticky bread but turned out wonderfully!




Then a friend stopped by with a huge bowl full of Plums! I just love these little bits of goodness! They are green and before you go thinking that they were not quite ripe let me just tell you that yes they were, they are green plums. I had never heard of them before a few years ago! My friends brother had a tree FULL of green plums so we made jam out of them and it was the best jam I have ever had! Chris calls it liquid gold! Alas back to my story...SO I thought I would make a dessert for our dinner and came up with this!
Plum Cobbler....it was so tasty!!!

Grandma's Tapioca

I know. I know...I go ON and ON about pumpkin time and then my next post is about TAPIOCA??? Well I have a confession to make. I don't have a pumpkin yet.
THERE I said it. I weep now as there are SO many yummy foods I long to make. Ok really I am not weeping BUT I feel like it. I will go to Green Bluff soon and get me one! I just cant stomach the thought of using canned pumpkin but if it gets to be too long I will!


Ok NOW for the good stuff! Tapioca Pudding. I grew up going to Gma's every week and she ALWAYS made this jellied delight that was so light and fluffy.  I have not yet mastered her trick and alas she has passed before I became nostalgic about it so I cant ask her about how she made it! Therefore I do what I do best and googled it. I came accross this recipe http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/tapioca-pudding-recipe.html and found heaven. Now you know me I tend to tweak recipes as I love to do. WARNING: DO NOT attempt to save egg whites by putting them into this recipe. It calls for 2 large egg yolks and THAT'S what you should put in there. NOT the whole egg as it turns out a bit gritty and while I don't mind that while its fresh, its not a fun texture cold!

I made the first batch and while it was good, the second batch disappeared before I could snap off a picture so you will just have to do with the website photo for now!

ENJOY!!!

Its PUMPKIN time!!!!

Alright, I admit I didn't grow a garden this year. A fact that has me a bit more than sad, but alas I will live on! I have never even planted pumpkin anyway~I get mine on beautiful Green Bluff. We are going this weekend, and then I will bake it and freeze it to make MANY pumpkiny delights! One of my most favorite things to make are those Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins! Here is the recipe and I challenge you to only eat one....I myself could eat the whole PAN! They are a bit more work than a normal muffin but OH so worth it!!

http://www.food.com/recipe/pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins-like-starbucks-189156

Unleavened Bread

I grew up using this recipe for communion bread and today I made it. It is VERY easy and quite tasty. The only problem is there isn't enough :)

1 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Sesame Seeds
1/4 Cup Quick Oats
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Oil
1/3 Cup Water
1 Tablespoon Honey

Mix dry ingredients together and add rest of wet ones. Roll thinly out on baking stone score and bake 10-15 min. at 400 degrees!

Catching up...

This summer was quite a summer, marked by pain, suffering, and deep grieving. My best friends husband lost his 3 1/2 month battle with an undiagnosed cancer on August 21, 2011. I cant even begin to tell you all the wonderful memories and stories I have from 20 years ago til this summer. This isn't quite the place.
I will say that it has taken a lot out of me and my zeal for baking~just hasn't been what it was.

Today I felt life coming back into me though baking in my kitchen again. I began to bake again and feel somewhat normal. In fact I have an excitement for fall and all the fun baking that comes along with those cold dark days......

Life will go on....painful at times but I cant wallow in the pain for I know Peter is in such a better place. I must carry on, like his sweet children who are marked by his death yet, are able to find true happiness in the day to day life.

Therefor I bake....


The Apple and Pumpkin are here!

Here is a hint

Canola oil.......

Its the BEST. period. end of sentence. DO NOT attempt to use any other for baking.

OH and dont accidentally go buy vegetable oil instead. I did...the BIG guy from Costco too....YUCK!

Need a quick recipe for a lazy day????

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_curry_in_a_hurry/



TASTY!

Its been a LONG time...

I need to explain why I am not cooking/blogging like I used to.

1. We decided to put our home on the market and see if we could sell it. My sweet husband is FINALLY done with his masters and we are getting ready for the next stage in our life. Not sure where that will be and it may even be here but we feeling the need to become more mobile, or at least be available to be mobile!

2. I had some health issues this past January and chose to change my eating habits in order to have a more healthy life. I no longer bake like I used to which breaks my heart but I was my own best customer and it needed to change.

3. About a month ago my best friend from childhood called and told me her husband has cancer. Its a very rare form of cancer, in fact he is the only case ever reported to have it. I flew down to CA to be with them for a weekend when he came home from the hospital. Life is so wild these days~I keep awaiting texts to hear how he is doing and how they are coping with life. Not much into celebrating with food right now.

4. I am planning a wedding for close friends. Its in 2 weeks and we are all very busy with the wonders of weddings. Lots of fun stuff going on. Its a bright spot right now and I am so very thankful to be doing it! This couple is ROCK SOLID! I must say I had the great pleasure of introducing them :) It has been so fun to watch the development of the relationship~what a blessing!


THEREFORE it may be a long while before I feel like posting food again. Will pick it up when life is a little less chaotic!

Thanks~Kyrsi

Ham Pot Pie

http://mykentuckyhome-kim.blogspot.com/2010/01/ham-pot-pie.html


Found this recipe today for all the leftovers we have! So looking forward to it!!!

Bagels

You may be intimidated by the words HOME MADE BAGEL. Until you try them that is. I will admit it's a bit daunting at first till you get the hang of it but let me tell you, YOU HAVE to try!!! There is simply nothing in the world like a home made bagel! I use this recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/homemade-bagels-recipe/index.html  its simple and easy. BE SURE to grease the pans before you set the bagels on to raise....otherwise you will run into trouble!

Take your time and enjoy this delight!

Recipe of a different kind

I am a naturalist. I believe that the more natural things are the better. I am not a whacko but I do try my best to make less of an impact on our world environmentally speaking. So today I wanted to share with you about glass cleaner. I make my own laundry detergent, fabric softener, my own glass cleaner, and my own dishwasher detergent! Someday I will try other things as well but for now I have started with these. 

Glass cleaner is easy to make and really inexpensive to buy the ingredients.

1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup water
2 drops of dish soap and
1 tablespoon of vinegar

That's it. You could add blue food coloring if you feel the need but really this is easy simple and very inexpensive!

Meat Ball Subs!

 

My dear friend Cathy gave me this recipe for Meat Balls and I am telling you~WOWZA! They are simply amazing! I would like to give it out but shhhh its secret! 

Easy Bread!

Have you ever had a recipe that you just love to make but forget how easy it is? I do! Its Colonial Brown Bread! SUPER easy and really tasty! The only problem is I forget how simple it is to whip up so I don't make this bread often enough! For you novices who are scared to make bread, this is a quick bread that you basically can do no wrong with!

Here is the recipe!!

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/colonial-brown-bread/Detail.aspx

My favorite muffins

These muffins are my all time favorite. They are easy to whip up! The orange peel and flaxseed make them healthy as well.

Possibly one of the BEST Pizza's EVER!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/grilled-flatbread-with-ricotta-cheese-fresh-tomatoes-oregano-and-roasted-garlic-oil-recipe3/index.html

I make this dough recipe all the time, its my favorite...I am anxiously awaiting warmer weather so I can BBQ again! This picture is a cheat from last year, but couldn't resist! Spring is on it's way soon.

Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

This past Saturday my sweet amazing husband finished his Masters!!!! I began the day by making some Orange Chocolate Chip Scones and I must say, they were delightful. My friend Ellen gave me this recipe. Here it is! 



4 C. flour
1 C. sugar
3/4 tps salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1 C. butter
1 egg
zest of 1 orange
3/4 C. buttermilk

Mix the dry ingredients together and cut in the butter. Add the buttermilk, orange zest, and egg. Make into 2 disks cut wedges and bake them at 425 for 20 min. For glaze add 2 C powder sugar and 2 T butter with 1/2 tsp. orange liqueur. Spread on scones and enjoy!

SOUP 3/2/11

I am a huge fan of SOUP! Mostly because it is SO easy to make. You can make some very gourmet soups really quick! This nights soup was Sausage Bean soup. I also made salad and bread to go with it. I always put cheese on my soups....mmmmmm cheese.

off the band wagon!

I am BACK and I must apologize for my lack of posting. I fell off the band wagon! I went on vacation and just haven't gotten back in the mode of taking pictures!

OUT of town....

I need this break and hoping the weather will allow it! See ya on the flip side!

2/21/11

Biscuits and Gravy!! Like I said I just LOVE breakfast. We have it often when I lack creativity! Being such a busy weekend, and with Presidents Day we all skipped out for the day to Cour d' lene! I did manage to take out some organic beef sausage that I was SO excited to use. I bought it from a local farmer here in town. http://www.localharvest.org/its-the-lords-farm-M41224

When I opened my package of sausage I was a little shocked! The meat was so bright red! I couldn't believe how it tasted as well! So fresh! Highly recommend this farm!! GREAT meat!

2/20/11 Engagement party!

Today I made a carrot cake, chocolate cake, 2 kinds of biscotti and hummus! Had a house FULL of people and it was SO much fun!!!

2/19/11

Friends for dinner after I did a photo shoot for their engagement! So I had the privilege of Chris making dinner! Ok so I helped a little....but not much! We made one of our favorite dishes, Ginger Peanut Chicken. So easy and so delicious! It was quite fun to make dinner together and I am pretty sure soon as school gets out I will spend less time in the kitchen!! He is seriously an amazing cook!

I thought you would like to see some pictures of what I did all day too!

Hamburger Rolls 2/18/11

One of our family favorite recipes is a bit of an embarrassment. They are Hamburger Rolls and they are just as they sounds. Rolls filled with hamburger meat and cheese. I brown up hamburger and onion and garlic. Then I make the dough from Betty Crocker Recipe book circa 1950's-60's for Easy Refrigerator Rolls and fill them with the meat and cheese! Then we bake them at 400 for 20 min! Tonight I served with a side salad and corn!

Boring but a family favorite none the less! Also easy when we have extra kids around and the funny thing is that the kids all love them and want THEIR moms to make them.

Cookies 2/17/11

I love just LOVE the big bag of chocolate chips at Costco. They never last long around here. The cookie recipe on the back is one of the best Chocolate chip recipes I have ever tried!

2/16/11

I love to make home made bread.  Its one of my favorite things to make. I am perfecting French Bread. This recipe is the best I have seen yet and very detailed info too...not a great site but great info!!!!


http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/FrenchBread.htm

 Ok I am just going to tell you....I have baked bread for YEARS. I came across this loaf pan at The Kitchen Engine and for $8.00 thought if I didn't like it I wouldn't be out much money. I LOVE this pan! I will be going to get more. It makes the best bread. They say to use them for rising the dough but I use it for baking as well and WOW! It makes my bread amazing!

Oops!

I forgot to tell you that I was blessed by my sweetie!!!!!  There were 2 dozen roses and chocolate delivered to my door on Valentines!!!

Blasted back!

There will be no picture for today, I was cleaning my shower and I put my back out! Would LOVE to tell you that I had danced the evening away last night and tweaked my back. That would be much more romantic, but no, I was cleaning the shower. Some people say cleaning will kill you and after today, I may have to agree. I do however have the most wonderful chiropractor who put me on VERY limited physical activity and gave me a back brace. I am hoping to be up and round next week! We had left overs tonight so scroll through the last few days pics and you will get the idea!

Valentines Dinner

I always try to make this day special for our whole family. Seems silly to leave the kids at home with a box of mac n cheese and then go out to eat. That's what Anniversary's are for! Today I aspired to make very special. While walking in Costco with my Love yesterday he mentioned Beef Stroganoff for dinner last night. Unfortunately I didn't have any meat defrosted thus we ended up with Ravioli. However, I did make sure to take the meat out early this morning so I could surprise him!

Lets be honest here, DESSERT is what this day is all about right??? OF COURSE right!! So lets start with the good stuff! I made Brownies! Now if you remember from my last post about Brownies, that my last try was an EPIC failure and I was on a mission to find a recipe for a good dense brownie....well, I DID! Here is the recipe!

Brownies
Multipurpose flour – 2 cups
Dark chocolate – 8 ounces
Soft Butter - 1 cup
Eggs – 5
Sugar – 2½ cups
Vanilla Extract - 1 tablespoon
Milk – 1 tablespoon
Pinch of salt
Roasted and chopped walnuts (optional) – 2½ cups
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Melt chocolate & butter over low heat until they make a smooth liquid and remove from heat. With mixer, blend eggs, sugar, & vanilla until thoroughly mixed. Add milk, flour and salt, and chocolate mix to egg/sugar mixture (slow w/ chocolate so eggs don't scramble). After it is thoroughly mixed, add walnuts if desired. Pour into greased pan. Bake for about 40 minutes @ 375.

THEN I made home made chocolate syrup!

http://smallnotebook.org/2009/07/10/homemade-chocolate-syrup/


SO easy and tastes better than...ahem.....Hershy's!

Next I chose to make home made noodles to go with my Beef Stroganoff! 

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1627,133186-249194,00.html

Last I made the Stroganoff and oh my! Well, my family knows they are loved! I felt very fulfilled in the kitchen today!!!! The dinner was a hit and dessert will live on in infamy in my world! I can rest now that I have found a recipe I like, OF COURSE you know I will be tweaking it as that's what I do best!

2/13/11

So I went to Costco and did the unthinkable! Yup~I bought a bag of pre~made Ravioli. Then I made a Spinach Alfredo sauce to go with it. It was actually delightful. I may just do that again!

Love TRUE love!!!!

You may ask what true love is and I will tell you. True love is making the special dinner for your husband that you can't even stomach. Last night I showed true love to my True Love. He has had a particularly unsettled week, so I decided to bless him and make....ahem....gag.....Meat Loaf. Honestly I can not think of a food I can"t stand more than meat loaf. I have tried my share in my day but just cant stomach the idea of it let alone the smell or taste. I usually make this when I am going to be out but last night I made it and ate rice and salad! So to honor Valentine's day and my sweet husband I give you Meat Loaf. (I am getting BIG points for this!!) 

My Salad!

2/11/11

Breakfast! It's what's for dinner! Honestly breakfast happens to be my favorite meal of the day. Often I will make it for dinner. I chose to make a vegetable and ham and cheese frittata and biscuits and quinoa as well. The frittata was easy to make but took much longer to become firm because I used well over 20 eggs. You may think that is insane amount but remember I have 3 men to feed! The quinoa was not as big of a hit to the family as I thought it to be. Thats ok. We will try it again!

2/10/11

Some days I am more creative than others. I sense the end of January and beginning of February to be rather dull days. I lack motivation and inspiration. Therefor you will see another baked pasta dish here. I long for the days of summer when I can grill and make salads and spend time out of doors.

This pasta dish however was tasty to me because of the swirly noodles I used. I also made the entire meal organic with the exception of the cheese. I find that to be pretty impressive considering its a casserole and has multiple ingredients!

Tea Time

Let's talk tea! If only my teacup could talk, I'm sure it would have a wonderful story! I would love to hear the story of who it belonged to until it came to me! I bought this one at a garage sale. I just LOVE tea! I have pretty much switched over from coffee to tea and really enjoy it. I am drinking gallons of green tea a day and its supposedly better for you. I am not sure about that, but I know I feel much better when I drink tea rather than coffee. Today I just needed to sip out of one of my nice tea cups! Sometimes life is crazy, or lonely, or sad and somehow drinking tea out of a regular cup just isn't the same. A real tea cup makes life just a little bit more calm, just that much more pretty!

2/8/11

Muffins are another of my favorite foods to make! I have found a recipe that I love to use! The reason I like it is because the top of the muffin is crispy crunch with out too much crunch and the inside is so moist and almost flaky! The I add berries or just use orange zest and flax seed or sometimes I even use nuts! Another reason I love this one is because the paper muffin cup NEVER and I do mean NEVER sticks to the muffin! I just do not like to eat those with my morning muffin! Today I made muffins for my books study girls! It was quick and easy and well....tasty! These ones I made with lemon zest and flax!

Duckhorn Wine Dinner

We had the wonderful opportunity to go to a wine dinner last night and I must say the food at Luna was wonderful!

The first course was Appetizers and Decoy Chardonnay~didn't get any pics of those but they were wonderful.
The first course they served was Lobster Risotto and OH MY! The lobster was fantastic. The risotto was a little undercooked but WHO CARES when you have succulent LOBSTER in your mouth!

Next we were privileged to experience the second course which was my personal favorite. It was Duck Breast with Butternut Squash puree and my mouth was in heaven!

After this treat we were then able to have Kobe Short Ribs that were the most tender meat I have personally ever eaten! They served it with tiny pieces of peppered bacon that were so flavorful!

Then we of course had to have dessert and being the dessert connoisseur  that I am was very pleasantly surprised with the Apple Tart-let and mascarpone cheese! I wont lie by telling you it was their best. Its NOT! They make a coconut cake there that is in my opinion the best dessert in all of Spokane County and beyond!! If they had served that cake I may still be there eating it! It was a wonderful night!

SuperBowl

Superbowl was fun! My sweet husbands team lost but there was FOOD! Lots of wonderful food! If you notice the lack of pictures on this post its true! I forgot again! So bummed I didn't snap off a pic of my favorites! I can still tell you what I made though. I made a Sweet Cheese~ball, Lemon Bars (they didn't turn out so well) and my all time favorite Artichoke Dip! We had a great time even if Pittsburgh lost!

Lemon Poppy~seed Scones

I LOVE to make scones. They are my go to food for easy convenient food when one has a guest coming in short notice! My friend came over yesterday and I made up a batch for her. Today our international student from Japan came by and wanted to spend the morning with us, I made another batch today. I made Lemon Poppy~seed. Love this picture how you can see the lemon zest springing out of the scone!

2/4/11 TREATED AGAIN!!!

We have a rotating dish duty in our home, where he who does the dishes, gets to sleep with our 4 lb Chihuahua Inka!  HOWEVER we also have a rule that if you make dinner you don't have to do the dinner dishes. So therefor after Kyla didn't have to do dishes Katie wanted to make dinner as well. Although she usually is the one who loves to cook, I think the no dishes was an extra motivator! So she made the most delicious pasta bake!!! I am so delighted my kids are learning to cook and loving it too! I think my son will be next to want to make dinner! Its been fun to watch them grow and learn and be creative!