Mom's Scones...

So there's been a little sneaking going on around here lately... and cookies have been consumed quite often as a breakfast food. Now, I don't know your opinion on the matter, but in this house, it's a no-no. To soften the blow when I laid down the law, last night I made homemade scones. Boy, am I glad the subject came up... because I don't know 'bout the kids, but I sure am enjoying them! Here's my Mom's yummy recipe...

3c flour
1/2 c sugar
5 tsp baking powder
3/4 c butter/marg
1 egg in 1 c milk
extra flour

Mix dry ingredients and use pastry blender to cut in butter to fine pieces. Knead in the milk and egg, addding extra flour if too sticky. Pat into about 1/2" thickness and cut in circles. (I used a drinking glass) Dab tops with milk or egg to brown and bake at 425 for 15-18 minutes. Serve with jam and whipped cream... or in my case, light cool whip... enjoy!

yay for baking day...

On Saturday, Julianna and I helped with a baking day at our church. Ladies signed up, and there were stations they rotated around, learning a new recipe aat each. In the end they brought home plates of goodies. Our station taught candied almonds and I'm happy to say that they were a hit! The downside to the day however was that since I was a teacher, I didn't get the chance to bake anything. So today, I made up for it!

 

(l-r) lemon bars, caramel squares, peppermint candy cane cookies, pecan pie bars, whipped shortbread, butter tarts.

The picture should show up and down, but for some reason refused to rotate. I guess it's better this way... now in order to look at it, we're shaking our heads 'no' instead of nodding them 'yes', thus reminding us not to eat too many Christmas sweets. Logical, right?

And just because Rhonda requested it... here's the recipe for my Uncle Jeff's Momma (Mrs. Eleanor Weborg)'s recipe for Lemon Bars...

1/4c icing sugar
1c flour
1/8tsp salt
1/2c butter

Beat together like shortbread and press into 8x8" pan. Bake 15 min @ 350.
Remove from oven and spread with:

1c sugar
1/8tsp salt
2tsp lemon juice
1/2tsp baking powder
2 eggs
(1/4 flour to thicken if needed)

Beat together and bake 20 min @ 350.
Cool completely and spread with:

2tsp lemon juice
1tsp melted butter
3c icing sugar

pizza * pie

Last night for dinner, Julianna made (from scratch!) a bacon & arugula / ham & pineapple pizza with a bran crust... and for dessert, Emily made (from scratch!) a lattice topped rhubarb / strawberry / apple pie.

 

And it. Was. So. Good.

a`la Emily...

I've shared before how much my girls love to get creative in the kitchen. Emily spent a good chunk on Saturday afternoon creating this rhubarb-apple masterpiece. She dropped of a slice to help her Poppa celebrate Father's Day and then the rest of us... well... let's just say that it tasted pretty darn good! Great job, Em! I'll let you know when the next batch of rhubarb is ripe!

bakin' and stitchin'...

...what better way to spend the day?

I'm so glad we made it into Stanley Park yesterday, because today it's just dumping outside! It's feeling fallish and so the baking that I got done was the perfect thing to do today. Oh, and the little Halloween-y quilty too...

Thank you to the lovely Julie for the wonderful pumpkin cookie recipe, and also for lending me the little quiltie pattern across the miles!

How are you spending your Labour Day?

German Pancakes

My. Oh. My.

What a run-around morning it has been. So far, I've been at Emily's school three times!

For a few days now, Emily has been waking up with an upset stomach. This happened before her band trip in May as well. We're sure it has something to do with anxiety or excitement, because when we're on the way to school, she's fine. Well, once we got to school today, she was not fine. Luckily there was a bathroom close by. After she was sick, she felt a lot better and decided to stay. Her body seems to work that way... get sick one time (or in this case three times!) and it's all over and done with. So I left to run some errands, with cell phone close at hand. She stayed for her science test, but then called me during recess to come get her. She slept for over an hour and it really helped. And that brings me to the title of this post... German Pancakes.

Today at Emily's school, the grade six's are putting on an international country fair. The kids are in small groups and have made posters and displays to represent countries from all around the world. The multi purpose room is packed! It's very well done and they've put a lot of effort into it.

The kids have also each brought a food sample representing their country. Emily's was... German Pancakes. Don't worry, her partners handled all the food - we didn't want her getting too close! Since I've never made German Pancakes before, we had them for dinner last night... sort of a practice run. They were really easy and really yummy! I made a fresh batch and we brought them warm for the fair.

German Pancakes

3 eggs

1 3/4 c milk

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 c flour

Preheat a frying pan and add a drop or two of cooking oil.

Whisk eggs in large bowl. Add milk. Slowly add flour and salt, whisking in between additions. (You don't want lumpy batter.)

Pour by scant 1/2 c into frying pan, rotating pan to coat the bottom and keep pancake nice and thin. I added a drop of oil to the pan after every other pancake. Makes about 8-10 pancakes.

I make one at a time, layering on a plate as I go. Serve rolled up with brown sugar, syrup, or fruit inside... kind of like a crepe. We had fresh strawberries with dinner, and the girls are serving them with brown sugar at the fair today.

yogurt muffins & lotsa lasagne

I really needed to bake yesterday. My poor kids had nothing decent for their lunches. The guilt was eating me up that they had nothing to eat up. So I made muffins. And believe me, this is one of the best, most versatile muffin recipes you'll ever find. My mom has made it for years and we love them.

Yogurt Muffins

Mix in one bowl,

4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

In another bowl,

Mix 500 g (or so, a little more is fine) yogurt

2 teaspoons baking soda

(this mixture will grow a bit)

In a third, large bowl,

Mix 1 cup sugar

1 cup oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Alternately add the flour mixture and the yogurt mixture to the sugar mixture. Mix just to blend. Add 1 cup of your favorite add-in. My muffins are chocolate chip, so I used vanilla yogurt and 1 cup chocolate chips. You can try berries or fruit, along with a fruit or vanilla yogurt. Try different combos!

Sprinkle sugar on top before baking. Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. You should get about a dozen and a half muffins from this recipe, and they are fabulous.

I also needed to cook yesterday. Father's Day is coming, and I really didn't want Robyn and my Dad to have to BBQ... hey, even the guys need a day out of the outdoor kitchen once in a while! So I made and froze lasagne... and more lasagne. This is the 'before' picture... when these babies came out of the oven they looked even better! (Sorry - no recipe! This one's entirely out of my head and it's never made the same way twice!) And now, I'm off the hook for kitchen duty for a while! That's the one good thing about your husband being away and it just being the girls at home - meals are what we want, when we want!

the birds and the bees

So here's a little peek at the finished birdie crib quilt...

I've wanted to share this recipe for a while now. My girls made these Peanut Butter Bumble Bees for dessert on Mother's Day. Love the little stingers!

Peanut Butter Bumble Bees

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup powdered (icing) sugar

1 Tsbp softened butter or margerine

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup sliced almonds

extra chocolate chips, coconut

Mix together PB, sugar, and graham crumbs. With your hands, shape into ovals and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Melt choco chips and pour melted choco into plastic zip bag. Snip a tiny hole in one corner of bag and drizzle stripes on bees. Create wings with sliced almonds, stingers with coconut, and eyes with extra choco chips. Store in fridge. Enjoy!

while it bakes...

...I have time to share a quick recipe. This is what's in my oven at the moment... apple danish. Our friends Scott and Jo-Anne are coming for a quick visit today and I thought an apple danish might be nice. I made a blueberry version a few days ago and the recipe is here if you'd like it.Also freshly baked... Snickerdoodles. Emily requested them to bring to school to share today. Make a batch! They're easy and yummy. (Hey - that combination always works for me!)

Snickerdoodles

1 yellow cake mix

1/4 cup oil

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

Mix it all together and drop by spoonfull on cookie sheet. I always use my cookie scoop (kind of like an ice cream scoop) because it gives a really nice sized cookie. They will spread, so leave room!

Anyway, bake them in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes. DON'T overbake them! They will go hard-ish... we prefer chewier cookies... I gave these ones a swipe of cream cheese icing so they'd be a little more special for Emily's class.

Hope your day's going well! I can smell the apple danish... should I save you some?

yummy homemade danish - recpie

I made this blueberry danish for Care Group the other night. For some reason I was on the ball and thought to take pictures as I went so I could share the recipe with photos. Enjoy...

You'll need:

2 pkgs refrigerated crescent rolls (8 in each)

1 pkg cream cheese, softened (light is fine)

1/4 c powdered (icing) sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract

1 can pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll crescent dough and seperate into 16 triangles. On large round baking stone or cookie sheet arrange 12 triangles. Press seams together and then form a slight ridge along outer edge.

In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, yolk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Spread evenly over prepared crust, almost to edges. Then spread fruit filling over this layer.

Cut each remaining dough piece (there will be 4 left over) into three strips. This picture shows two complete pieces, with one cut into three strips.

Arrange strips on top of fruit filling, crimping the outer edges to the ridge you made on the bottom of the dough. I usually need to stretch them a bit to make them meet in the middle. You can add a twist or two into each strip... looks really professional! I just didn't have time this time.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes... MAKE SURE the middle is done, because we've found that underbaked danish does not taste that good! I like to leave it in the oven until it's a nice golden brown to make sure.

Make a glaze by mixing about 1/2 c powdered sugar with 2-3 TBSP milk. Drizzle on top when cool-ish. Cut with your pizza cutter and enjoy! It is fabulous and very easy to make... oven ready in 10 minutes or less.

Try apple or peach filling with cinnamon sprinkled on top, cherry, or blueberry like this one...

recipes & reindeers

I have a couple of minutes of downtime this evening (surprisingly!) and would like to share some of our favorite Christmas recipes. I have these goodies packaged and ready for the sales...

Nuts & Bolts

2lb salted peanuts

1 box Shreddies

1 box Cheerios

1 box Chex or Crispix

pretzles

hard cheezies

2c oil

2 tbsp worchestershire sauce

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp seasoning salt

(use up to 1 1/2 times the amount of the

spices if desired - I do!)

Mix spices and oil.

Pour over cereals etc.

Use large baking pan.

Bake at 250 for 2 hours, stir every 15 minutes.

Whipped Shortbread

1/2 c icing sugar

1c softened butter

1 1/2 flour

Combine and beat for 10 minutes.

Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet.

Bake 350 for 15-17 minutes. Divine!!

Breton Brittle

28 Breton crackers

1 c butter or hard margerine

1 c packed brown sugar

1 1/2 c choco chips

1/2 c chopped pecans

Overlap crackers in foil lined pan.

Do 4 crackers across, and 7 down.

Stir butter and brown sugar over heat till boiling.

Pour carefully over crackers.

Bake 400 for 5 minutes. Remove from oven.

Scatter choco chips over crackers and let sit till spreadable.

Spread to cover. Scatter with pecans.

Store in fridge. Break into pieces to serve.

~~~

...and... nearly finished are the adorable rocking reindeer. Love these guys! Hmmm... maybe I should name one Ruldoph! Once their twiggy antlers are in place, they'll be ready to rock!

Goodnight!

~Kimberly

Tweaked pumpkin and recipes to share

Ladies, thanks for your advice! I should have seen the problem myself! Cindy, I got your message last night, tweaked the pumpkin and tried to load a pic, but my fotomat wouldn't work. Anyway... here is the new and improved pumpkin. Better?

And Kindra, I would love to share my recipes with you! Here goes...

Pumpkin Chip Muffins

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

2 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. oil

*

3 c. flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 c. chocolate chips

*

Blend liquids to dry ingredients. Bake 16-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Let stand 10 minuted before removing from muffin tins.

Pumpkin Bars

1 c. flour

2/3 c. sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cloves

1 c. canned pumpkin

2 egg whites, slightly beaten

1/4 c. oil

1/4 c. water

*

Combine flour, sugar, bak. powder, cinnamon, bak. soda, salt, and cloves. Stir in pumpkin, egg whites, oil, and water. Stir well. Spread into greased 9x13" pan (I used 2 - 9x9" squares)

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Frost and refrigerate.

Frosting

1/2 c. softened margerine or butter

1 brick (8 oz) softened cream cheese

4 c. icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla

*

Beat together well and spread over bars. Makes a large amount, keep in refrigerator.

On my bars, I used the frosting between the layers, and an icing sugar/milk glaze on the top.

Enjoy!

~Kimberly