Loaded Chicken and Potatoes- Delicious!

My husband is the main cook in the family-

that's a good thing for all of us.

He found this recipe today and gave it a try.

We changed up a few things so I'll post

the link to the site but also tell you 

what changes we made.

It's delicious and will go for at least two dinners for us,

maybe even more if we had paired it with a salad.

Great comfort food on a cold, rainy night.

The On Line Recipe Link Here

What we did- pictured above

 Preheat to 400 degrees F

 2 chicken breasts, cut up into bite sized chunks

 5-6  yellow potatoes cubed- skins on

1/3 c olive oil

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 Tbsp paprika

2 Tbsp garlic powder

2 Tbsp hot sauce 

2 c Three Cheese blend, shredded

1 c crumbled bacon

1 c  green onion

Grease a casserole dish, whatever size you have that will hold the mixture and allow you to stir.  Ours was a 10 x 10 Corningware.

Combine the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and hot sauce in a large bowl and then add the potatoes and chicken.

Stir well and transfer to the casserole dish.

Bake 55-60 minutes stirring every 20 minutes until potatoes and chicken are completely cooked through.

 Remove and add the cheese, onion and bacon.  

Bake another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Ladybug Invasion

Ladybugs here,

ladybugs there,

ladybugs, ladybugs everywhere!

Have a look at the video.

I took Bird out so she could sun herself on the deck 

but we had to cut the visit short due to the 

hundreds and hundreds of dive bombing beetles!

My husband went upstairs and said they found and entrance 

through the bathroom vent fan.  There were 15-20 flying

around in the bathroom.  There were several coming in 

attached to our clothing and even some in my hair!

Crazy Bookstore- Donate Your Books So the Owner can Profit?

Crazy Bookstore 

This is from my Facebook page so it's written 

pretty Facebookishly   (If that is a word)

Can you believe this? I visited a new bookstore in Eureka, Hometown Books, or something similar to that. It's a used bookstore so I asked what their policy was on used book trade/buying. They only give cash for 4 different type of books (nonfiction). So I asked what do they offer in trade? He said (AND GET THIS) they don't give any credit, you DONATE your books to them! This is a For Profit business.

I told the owner that if I am donating my books to anyone, it won't be a for profit business. As in the past, I donate them to The Agape House which sells them and helps the poor. Maybe helps pay their heating bill, maybe gives them food for their children. 

He looked surprised. 

Maybe I'm not missing something but I can't recall donating my chicken eggs to Denny's so they can sell omelettes. Maybe some nice lumber company will donate wood so my husband can build and sell a house. Wow, what a savings for us! I can't wait to see how long they stay in business.

Oh, and you buy their books by the pound. He had to adjust his original price because none of the hardbacks or heavy cookbooks were selling! Craziness.

I will add that we spoke at length on how other local used bookstores manage this.

They will give you a portion of the cover price to use against books in their store.

If they sold the book they may mark out the UPC so the book shop will know

that it was not purchased at full price.

Some of them give punch cards that you fill up and turn in for books, if you 

lose your card, you are out of luck.There are several variations.

I had some FB comments indicating some retailers to take donations but

sell the books with proceeds going to a charity. That makes sense to me.

I just thought it odd that a business would think I wanted to

donate the products they intend to sell for a profit.

Especially if I then had to pay for books I might purchase from his shop.

He is thinking about his options.

The Winter Quilt

While I am working on my "secret" project 

I sent my Winter Quilt/Christmas Quilt out to the

long arm quilter.  I figured this was too big

for my first attempt in quilting a large project.

So, let the expert handle it.

It's a disappearing or tossed nine patch made with 

coordinated fabrics.  There are so many patterns-

or none - at all that you can choose after chopping

up your nine patch.

I particularly love the backing material

and was fortunate enough to be able to piece

it so it blends together.

The quilting is a modern Christmas tree with 

a star.  While it's a winter quilt I liked

adding the Christmas motif to it.

   I still have to bind it so it should be complete 

pretty soon!  In the meantime I'm binding my 

secret project.  More on that later.

Deutsch Country Days - Everything Else

The last post in the Deutsch Country Days trip

begins with the street scenes.

These melancholy musicians  played outside the

smoke house.  There was one particular song I would love

to have but is had such a difficult name that even they

couldn't pronounce it.  Beautiful music.

The dulcimer gang was much more lively

getting the kids involved as they sang

Old MacDonald and other tunes.

The entrance was next to the spiced nut vendor,

it smelled like cinnamon rolls but actually

were several flavors of nuts.

The gardens were winding down, this bed

of gourds ready for whatever crafts were

on the schedule.

I had fun with this Civil War tent.  I told my granddaughter

and the neighbor girls to be VERY careful around these guys.

One of the Yankees told them that it was OK, they were the 

good guys, or at least the winning side.

I looked at the neighbor girls and told them that since they 

were German, they would be OK, probably on this side had

they lived in this area back then.

Then I turned to Taylor, my granddaughter, and said

You, on the other hand, have cause for concern!

Her eyes got big and she hurried on.

 Pictured on the table is Hardtack, a mixture of

flour, water and shortening, which makes a  

preservable food source.  It was hard as a rock.

I have the recipe for this and a hardtack pudding

in my Rebel Cornbread and Yankee Coffee cookbook.

There was a petting, animal observation area for the kids.

The girls loved the goats but I was admiring the turkey.

After the event we decided to stop for an early dinner

in Washington, MO at a little place with an outside patio

next to the train tracks and river.  The girls were 

coloring their menus and then decided to decorate the cups 

as well.  Pretty clever.

This is a first for me.

Do you know you can stop hiccups by 

drinking through a straw while holding your ears?

The Girls.

 That is the last of Deutsch Days for this year.

The rest of the week was spent taking care of some 

errands, have a few lunches, working on 

sewing projects and trying to get some Christmas gifts

in order so it's all done and paid for by November!  

Living History Weekend in Marthasville, MO

as Deutsch Country Days kicked off it's annual

event on the historic Luxenhaus Farm.

 The all volunteer staff demonstrated skills of the

German settlers.  It is sponsored by the Lexenhaus Farm 

German Heritage Foundation.

Part 4 and all previous links

Deutsch Country Days Part 4 - Cooking and Cleaning

I fell in love with the kitchen!

It is so comfortable and inviting.

Although I will say that ironing has become much easier.

The early washing machines would be perfect

if you were without power for an extended time.

The girls had the opportunity to try this

model last year.  What a chore!

This is a bit more modern

and actually,  probably a lot more reliable

than these ultra expensive flashy models

that I see in stores today.  It didn't take 

long for my brother-in-law's to break

and the repair was going to be more expensive

than purchasing a new, less expensive model.

This would be the part I disliked!

I am so thankful for indoor plumbing

and hot water heaters.

I wonder how things would change if we had 

to go back to these ways .

I'm sure our ancestors couldn't have imagined 

sitting around in our air conditioned homes

playing on our I-whatevers.

There is will be one last part-

the All Other post.

I hope you are enjoying seeing a little of the past.

Living History Weekend in Marthasville, MO

as Deutsch Country Days kicked off it's annual

event on the historic Luxenhaus Farm.

 The all volunteer staff demonstrated skills of the

German settlers.  It is sponsored by the Lexenhaus Farm 

German Heritage Foundation.

 Part 1 Lace, Quilts and Home Decor

Part 2 Wood working and Basket Weaving

Part 3 Edibles

Honey Recipes

Honey Recipes

The recipes from the lavender honey accompanied the jar of honey.

Honeybee Fritters

1 C ricotta cheese

2 to 3 eggs

1/2 C flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 pinch salt

1 1/2 T sugar

1 tsp Lavender flower buds, crushed ( optional)

1/2 ts p lemon zest

1/4 C Gibbons Bee Farm Lavender Honey Sauce

In a bowl mix ricotta cheese and eggs.  Add flour , lavender, 

lemon zest, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Mix until smooth.

Use a deep fryer or electric fry pan at 350 degrees F.

Drop teaspoons of batter into fryer and let brown for 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve with Gibbons Bee Farm Lavender Honey Sauce.

Fillet of Salmon with Lavender Honey

3 lbs fresh salmon fillet

1 C Gibbons Bee Farm Lavender Honey Sauce

1 C water

1 tsp Lavender buds, crushed (optional)

1 C tamari

Crushed black pepper to taste

Mix water, honey and crushed Lavender and heat over flame.

Reduce slightly  then add tamari and let mixture cool.

Blend cooled mixture in blender.

In a large zip lock bag, place salmon and cooled blended mixture.  

Cure for 24 - 48 hrs refrigerated .

Heat oven to 450 degrees F  

Place salmon on sheet pan, top with crushed black pepper to taste

bake uncovered for 7 - 10  minutes until fish flakes easily.

Tamari is a premium soy sauce (thicker and less salty)

Gibbons Honey suggests drizzling the lavender sauce over 

poultry, fruit, yogurt or mixed in tea .

I found this on the National Honey Board's website 

The featured recipe looks great!

Honey Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup - honey
• 1/2 cup - butter or margarine, softened
• 1 can (16 oz.) - solid-pack pumpkin
• 4 - eggs
• 4 cups - flour
• 4 teaspoons - baking powder
• 2 teaspoons - ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons - ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon - baking soda
• 1 teaspoon - salt
• 1 teaspoon - ground nutmeg

In large bowl, cream honey with butter until light and fluffy. 

Stir in pumpkin. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. 

Sift together remaining ingredients. 

Stir into pumpkin mixture. 

Divide batter equally between two well-greased 9 x5 x 3-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let loaves cool in pans for 10 minutes; invert pans to remove loaves and allow to finish cooling on racks. .

recipe link

YIELD: 2 LOAVES

I found this on another site  

Sauce Magazine is worth reading, 

very interesting recipes

Blue Cheese and Honeycomb 

Courtesy of The Pitted Olive’s Mike Holmes 

1 serving 2 slices good-quality ciabatta or other crusty bread, cut 3/4-inch thick 
2 to 3 oz. creamy blue cheese, rind removed 
1 1-inch cube honeycomb
½ tsp. truffle oil 
Seasonal berries 

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 
• Lightly toast the bread. 
• In an oven-proof dish, melt the cheese in the oven until gooey and soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. 
• Spread the cheese on one piece of bread. Cut both pieces in half and stack the halves on top of each other, alternating a plain piece with a piece with cheese, ending with cheese on the top. 
• Top with the honeycomb. 
• Drizzle the truffle oil over the top and garnish with berries. -

 See more at: http://www.saucemagazine.com/a/1025#sthash.Eavpi4kE.dpuf

Deutsch Country Days Part 3 Edibles

Who could go to Deutsch Country Days without checking out the edibles? 

 Most of the artisans either teach or have books to learn their crafts. 

We purchased the cheese making book last season but haven't 

tried it yet, except for some homemade cottage cheese which 

was more like a dip with herbs spread through it.

Good stuff.  

I would have purchased some apple butter but we 

have a jar made by the local scout troop.

I saw a recipe for a stack cake layered with apple butter

and the sprinkled with powdered sugar.

I think I'm reserving the jar for that!

The apple press was pretty popular with the girls.

Taylor got to help put apples in the press

and then bought a couple of cups of apple cidar,

hot and steamy.  They did offer "cold" cidar too.

While everyone else was on the Osage Trail

I scouted out the honey booth.  They had samples of 

dips and spreads and honey butters with various nut flavorings.

I picked up this pretty bottle of

Lavendar Honey.

It  comes with a few recipes that are worth trying.

I also got some honey  mustard and several honey straws

plus a comb.  I want to try breaking some of it up in small

pieces and placing it on our salad.  It's supposed to be 

pretty good.  They suggested topping oatmeal with it as well.

The kids got to help with the sausage making demo.

It is much more difficult to crank the press than you'd think!

Taylor was shy and didn't try it this year.

I noticed the sorghum makers were using child labor this year 

rather than the typical mules.  I'm not sure why, either

they were not available this year or the kids just wanted

to walk round and round!

They were short of volunteers this year so this exhibit

was not currently running.  There was someone

demonstrating the early manual machines that  removed

the kernels, cracked and crushed the corn.

My husband volunteered a couple of years ago and he enjoyed it. 

Stay tuned for part 4 Cooking and Cleaning.

Living History Weekend in Marthasville, MO

as Deutsch Country Days kicked off it's annual

event on the historic Luxenhaus Farm.

 The all volunteer staff demonstrated skills of the

German settlers.  It is sponsored by the Lexenhaus Farm 

German Heritage Foundation.

Part 2 Woodworking and Basket Weaving

 Part 1 Lace, Quilts and Home Decor

Deutsch Country Days Part 2 - Wood Working-Basket Weaving

It was a crisp morning with many bundled in jackets, but a perfect

Fall day in Marthasville as we walked along the village streets

     talking to the volunteers that were demonstrating skills

of early Missouri life.

The bowl maker sat in the clearing by the apple press

and across from the apple butter makers, 

what better place to sit- the aromas were amazing.

It takes him around 8-12 hours from start to finish

as he chips away at the block of wood.

I love the antlers incorporated into this basket.

Another one of the weavers wears wooden shoes

also for sale.  I remember having a pair when I was a child.

 Not very comfortable but fun to wear!

The kids get into the action using a two man

cross cut saw.  You have to remember to pull,

not push, or it will bind up.

This gentleman is making spatulas and wooden spoons

which are for sale inside.

The woodworking shop, by the saw mill, is busy

with volunteer sanding down the various items they are 

creating.

Every year I say I'd love to have a coffee grinder.

My mom has one and I always loved it.

There was a mechanical problem that day 

with the steam powered saw mill so it wasn't running

although I've seen it before. It's too bad that 

some first timers missed it.

This is the place that all the guys want to volunteer 

  to  demo, there's probably a waiting list.

When it is running it sounds like a train

and attracts a large crowd.

This is the Huber Haus which was constructed

in Perryville MO in 1842 and moved to the farm in 1974.

Many of the structures were preserved at the farm and other 

constructed on site using volunteers and original building methods.

There are plans for a large barn which will host meetings and

events including exhibits, receptions and overnight stays.

You can see Part 1 at this link.

Living History Weekend in Marthasville, MO

as Deutsch Country Days kicked off it's annual

event on the historic Luxenhaus Farm.

 The all volunteer staff demonstrated skills of the

German settlers.  It is sponsored by the Lexenhaus Farm 

German Heritage Foundation.

Barn Link