A Corny Meal

So....my Facebook followers may remember that I made a meal of corn chowder and corn cheese biscuits the other day. It was quite tasty, but I'm angry that I forgot to put bacon bits into the chowder. (and into the biscuits for that matter- hmm.....)

Anyhow, here are the recipes for what I made. Enjoy!

Corn Chowder

2 cups corn
4 medium potatoes
1 large onion
2 cups water
2 tbsp flour
3 1/2 c milk
3 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

* Put your corn on the cob into cold water and bring, quickly, to a boil. Let the corn cook for 10 minutes (no more - the corn will soften some more when you add it to the soup). Set the corn aside to cool. If you used canned corn, drain your corn kernels well.

*put 3 1/2 cups of milk into the small pot and set on medium-low heat to scald. When the milk foams, take the pot from the burner and set it aside.

TIP: Rinse your pot with cool water before putting in the milk. This will help to keep the milk from sticking.

While the milk is heating:
* Dice your potatoes into 3/8 to inch pieces and set it aside.
* Dice the onion and set aside.
* Cut the corn kernels away from the cob and set them, in a bowl, aside for use later.

NOTE: Don't let the milk burn! If you don't have time to do something, just set it aside until you are ready for it.

* In the large pot, heat up the butter (3 tbs) and sautee the onion and flour (2 tbs) until the onion becomes shiny. Keep stirring this because flour burns quickly!
* When the onions are fully separated and glisten, add the (2 cups) water and the diced potatoes. Let the potato cook until they are softened.
* Add the scalded milk (less the skin that forms on the surface) and the corn. Let cook for an additional 5 minutes.

TIP: Salt and pepper this soup very conservatively. You can alway add salt and pepper at the table but once it is in the pot you can't take it out. Adjust your salt if you've used salted butter. This soup is, while hearty, delicate in its balance of flavour. It is very easy to over spice!

Corn Cheese Biscuits

I'll just be lazy, and give you the link to Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog. :)

http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2008/11/corn-and-cheese-biscuits.html

So, I'll be rejoining the corporate world again on May 4th- so much for my brief stint of sitting at home all the time! I admit- I'm insanely excited- I've been crawling out of my skin with boredom. After this, I'm not sure if I could handle being a SAHM, but I guess it also changes when you have children. Either way, I'm really excited about going back to work. Now if only our house would sell...

I've been getting into all sorts of "weird" at home things. I ordered a kombucha mushroom the other day, and today I ordered water kefir grains and a special sourdough starter. Mmmm...can't wait!!

In talking with Anne Jisca, I remembered the hot dog/hamburger bun recipe I found last year. This recipe made incredibly delicious hot dog buns, and they were so easy to make. We're getting into that time of year again, so time to think of that! :)

Hot Dog and Hamburger Buns

* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/4 cup butter
* 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
* 2 tablespoons white sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 egg

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small saucepan, heat milk, water and butter until very warm, 120 degrees F (50 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Mix milk mixture into flour mixture, and then mix in egg. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
3. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape into smooth balls, and place on a greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Cover, and let rise for 30 to 35 minutes.
4. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. For Hot Dog Buns: Shape each piece into a 6x4 inch rectangle. Starting with the longer side, roll up tightly, and pinch edges and ends to seal. Let rise about 20 to 25 minutes. Bake as above. These buns are pretty big. I usually make 16 instead of 12.

Amazing Pizza Crust

This pizza crust is fantastic- it's so easy to work with, and it stretches out so nicely by hand- no need to use a rolling pin. It's quite tasty, too! :)

Amazing Pizza Crust

3 3/4 cups Flour
2 tbsp Yeast
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Honey
1-2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 1/2 c Warm water

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water and let it stand for 3 min.

Mix the flour and salt together.

Pour the yeast mixture, the rest of the water, honey and olive oil into the center of the flour and mix to dough.

Knead for 15 min or until dough becomes smooth and elastic.

Divide dough into 2 round pieces. Slightly sprinkle the baking sheet with flour and transfer rolls to it. Cover and leave them in a warm place for 1.5 hours or until doubled in bulk.

To make pizza, spread the dough into half a centimeter.

Add your toppings and bake in 400 F oven for 20 min.

Jam Biscuits

This is a recipe that I got from Helen Toews, and it is absolutely scrumptious!! I've made these a few times, and they've been a huge hit every time.

Jam Biscuits
2 c Flour
3 tsp Baking powder
2 tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 c Butter
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 c Milk
Jam

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar & salt. Cut in butter.
Add egg, vanilla and milk.
Roll out about the same thickness of a pie crust. Cut into squares of about 3". Place in muffin cups, making the shape of a tart-like shape. Put in a dab of jam (about 1 tsp jam)
Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy! :)

Meat Buns (Perishki)

I got this recipe from Londa Thiessen, who got it from her Grandma Elsie.

They are soooo delicious, and while they are a bit labor intensive, they are well worth the effort.

Meat Buns

Dough:
2 tbsp Yeast
1/2 c warm water
1 tbsp sugar
Dissolve. Let stand 10 minutes.

3/4 tsp salt
4 c flour
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 lb lard
1 c sour cream
3 eggs (beaten)

Combine sour cream and eggs. Mix together the lard, sugar, salt and flour like you do for a pie crust.
Combine all and mix. Dough will be sticky.
Refrigerate overnight.

Roll out to 1/4" thickness. cut dough into circles with a cup. Place meat in center, and pinch shut.
Let rise for 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Filling:
1/2 pkg bacon, crumbled
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 c chopped onion
1 can cream of mushroom
1 pkg onion soup mix

Fry meats. Add soups and cook for 1/2 hour until soup is absorbed. Refrigerate overnight. Works best when meat is cold.

Filling variation:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
4" farmer sausage
1/4 lb Bacon
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg onion soup mix

and on a different note.....

Ok, so I think I'm done with posting recipes for today. I'll hopefully keep this up over time, and get my whole repertoire on here.

This is, however, not just about recipes. This is about my entire lifestyle, which I think is an important part of who I am. I'll be tossing little various nuggets of information on here from time to time, so you'll get a better all around feel of how "crunchy" or "hippie" I really am. I think I've been spoiled with my friends- so many of us are on the same page of things in different ways, so when we get together, alot of our conversations revolve around this thing. Heather, Patricia and I were joking about it the other day- we were talking about alternative everythings, and laughing about how we have changed. The things that I will be writing about are things that are tested and proven, and dearly loved by myself and my friends.

Today, I leave you with....dun dun dun..... The Diva Cup!! *giggles as everyone runs*

Yes, I'm into alternative, "save the environment and your health" type of things. This, however, is not just a "save the environment" thing. The Diva Cup has many, many, many benefits, as my friends will loudly testify! :)

What is the Diva? Thought you'd never ask. It is an alternative menstrual product. No, don't run. It's really not that scary! I'll start you off with a benign image.
I know it looks somewhat scary, but believe me, it's not, and it is amazing!! It has completely changed the way that I (and my friends) think about "that time of the month".
I'll list a few of the benefits:
- Comfortable beyond belief- you literally forget that it's there!
- Incredibly good for the environment. No more flushing tampons, pads, and filling up the landfills.
- Money saving. At the most, it costs around $40, but can be acquired for much less. Considering that it can last for quite a few years, the financial savings are substantial.
- No mess or unpleasant smells- you can quite literally forget that it's that time of the month!
.....and the list goes on and on.

My friends and I marvel among ourselves that we had never heard of this before. It has completely revolutionized our lives, and we can't sing its praises loudly enough. This kind of thing basically advertises soley by word of mouth, so I thought I'd use this as a place to advertise a bit. :) If you want to know more, feel free to ask me, or any one of my fellow diva users. :)

Mennonite Borscht!

As some of you know, I've been on the hunt for a perfect cabbage borscht recipe, and have tried several different ways of finding it. Thanks to my friend, Pat Goertzen, I think I'm finally close to it- yayy!!

I'm going to attempt to share this recipe, but I've become one of those annoying cooks that measures approximately, and judges by taste. For those of you who can't cook that way, I apologize. :P

Pat uses chicken broth for her soup base, so I did this time, too, just to give her recipe a good try. Honestly, to me, cabbage borscht should have a beef base, but that is entirely a matter of preference. Chicken also works quite well. My biggest struggle has been figuring out how to make the soup stock, but I think I've got it now. :) This broth turned out very well.

So, here goes:
Soup stock

Chicken option
Combine chicken (necks/back and some breasts with bone in works great) with
Onion, Celery, a carrot, black peppercorn, salt, parsley and star anise.
Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to simmer, and simmer for 2-3 hours, or until broth is tasty. Add more spices as needed to get the the taste you want. When the broth is done cooking, strain out the spices and vegetables. If broth is too greasy, put in fridge to cool, and skim the fat from the top after it's settled and firmed.

Pull meat off the bones, and cut into bite size pieces, and return to broth.

Beef option
Same thing....just with beef bones! :P

Add to broth:
Chopped cabbage, potatoes, grated carrots, bay leaf and parsley. Cook until vegetables are done, and add tomato soup, and a bit of cream, if desired. Simmer about 1/2 hour, and serve. This soup tastes better every time that it's warmed up.

As for how many vegetables to add? That's totally up to you, and what you prefer. I have a fairly good sized pot- probably just a bit more than a gallon- and I used about a 1/3 of a good sized head of cabbage, 3 potatoes, 2 carrots, and 2 cans of tomato soup. Mine made a very hearty, substantial soup. I didn't add cream to the soup- I like adding a bit of sour cream just before I eat it.

Also, don't let the whole soup stock process scare you- if you really don't want to bother with that, boullion cubes would work just fine. :) Just make sure that the broth is tasty.

Enjoy! :)

Puffed Apple Pancake

This is a delicious cross between a pancake and a cake. It takes a bit more time and effort, but believe me...it's worth it! Yumm!

* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/3 cup flour
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
* 2 teaspoons butter, melted
* 1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla. Add flour, 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix until well blended. Set aside.
3. Pour melted butter into bottom of a glass pie plate. Arrange apple slices around bottom and then pour batter over the top. Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of brown sugar.
4. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed.

Orgasmic Caramel Popcorn

Please forgive the rather...umm...interesting name for this popcorn. I think that the people that have partaken of it rather agree. Memories that come to mind is Canada Day last year, where a huge batch somehow magically disappeared, and hiding a roasterfull from other guests when Peter and Heather came for an overnight stay. We packed off everyone, then sat down to watch a movie, with our roaster of caramel corn. Soooo good! :)

In case you can't tell yet, I love experimenting with the foods I make, and love adding all sorts of unconventional things to them. In this case, I added Krispix cereal, which gave it a delightful taste and texture.

Caramel Popcorn

* 3 quarts popped popcorn
* 3 cups dry roasted mixed nuts, unsalted
* 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
* 1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 250°. In a large roasting pan combine the popcorn and nuts. Place in the oven while preparing glaze.

In a medium saucepan combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, then continue to boil for 4 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda and vanilla, then pour over the warm popcorn and nuts, tossing to coat well. Bake another 60 minutes, stirring freqently, about every 10 minutes. Cool and break apart. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 4 quarts.

Ridiculously light, fluffy homemade bread

The recipe I have used since I was 13 has been touch and go with whole grains. I have experimented with various grains, but as soon as I pulled away from using white flour, it would get dense and heavy. It took a fine balance to make good bread/buns with that.

This August, Chad and I finally cashed in our wedding gift from Diedrich & Helen Toews (I know, 2 years later!), and went and spent a night at their beautiful B&B- Garden of Arden, which is just outside of Gladstone. Mrs. Toews gave me her incredible bread recipe, and it is ridiculous, no fail. (she also gave me her Butterhorns recipe, as well as the delectable, jam filled tea biscuits, but that is for another day. And no, to those that would tackle me for one of said biscuits, I have none on hand right now. Sarah and Keira, make them yourself! :P)

Anyhow, back to the bread- I kid you not. It rises like something possessed- I joke that it has NO self control! I ground a bunch of hard grain today, and supplemented the rest (maybe about 4-5 cups or so) of store bought whole wheat flour. Next time I'm using ONLY self ground wheat!!! This stuff rises like crazy, and is SO insanely light. I have never, ever experienced this before, especially with home ground whole wheat flour. (the heaviest stuff) My mom gave us her flour mill (and Chad fixed it), so I'm having alot of fun with that. We had Spelt bread for Thanksgiving, and I made whole wheat buns today. It is SO easy to make this stuff- I made it in an evening.

It is also very, very tasty bread. Store bought simply cannot compare!! I plan to experiment with different mixtures of grains, as well as whole grains. (flax, millet, sunflower seeds, etc. Yumm!) It's really the tastiest, healthiest bread around.

I know that making bread has been cracked up to be such a huge, impossible feat.

Helen Toews' Bread

4 cups Flour
1/2 tbsp Salt
1/3 cup Sugar
2 tbsp instant Yeast

Make a well, and add:

2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
4 cups very warm water
More flour

Knead to make a good, elasticy dough, and set in a covered bowl to rise. Punch down 3 times, every 15 minutes. On the 4th time, punch down and form into loaves or buns. (or anything else) **you can almost WATCH this stuff rise- it goes SO quickly!)

Bake at 350 until well browned and done

Homemade laundry soap

tammysrecipes.com is where I got this recipe from. There's some great pictures to illustrate there.

I hope to get started with pictures, too, at some point, but I think that will wait until we've moved- I have too much to think about right now.

I have been using the Sunlight bar soap that you can buy in the laundry aisle at Superstore, but you can use other versions of bar soap, too.

I've found that it works quite well, and I enjoy the fact that not only is this easy on the environment and better for us, but that I'm saving loads of money on making my own detergent. It's fun, and will make using cloth diapers some day so much more economical!

Becki has told me that she makes this dry- the same ingredients, but doesn't dissolve it down with water. I suspect that this might be a bit more difficult to dissolve when washing, but I'm not sure.

Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap or one whole bar of Ivory or homemade soap (I used Ivory)
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup borax powder
water
2+ gallon bucket, for storing

Grate the soap and place in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts.

Add the washing soda and borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat.

Pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket. Add the soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir.

Store your laundry detergent in the bucket, covered. Use 1/2 cup per load of clothes.

This can tend to become a bit lumpy/gelatainous, so keep a stirring utensil of sorts to mix it before you use it.

Olive Garden meal

This is one of my favorite meals to make- I particularly enjoy making it for company. (some of you have been lucky enough to be invited for one of these...) It's a lovely soup and breadstick combo, and sometimes, if I feel like it, I'll add a tossed salad. Either way, it's absolutely scrumptious!!

Zuppa Toscana (ala Olive Garden)

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage, crumbled
1/2 lb. smoked bacon, chopped
4 cups water
3 1/2 - 4 cups chicken broth
2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed clean, cubed
2 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
1 med. onion, peeled, chopped
2 cups chopped kale OR Swiss chard
1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage, breaking into small pieces as you fry it; drain, set aside.
In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown bacon; drain, set aside.
Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.
Add kale and cream to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat through
Enjoy! :)

Olive Garden style Breadsticks

1 1/3 cups of water
3 tsp soft butter
4 cups flour (apprx)
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast

Mix 2 c flour with sugar, salt and yeast. Add soft butter and water, stir well. Knead in enough flour to make a soft, manageable dough.

Divide dough into 16 even portions. Roll into little logs, and place on greased baking pans with enough distance to allow for rising.
Cover, and let rise for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450. Melt some butter, and brush on the breadsticks. Sprinkle with a little kosher or coarse salt, and bake until very lightly browned. (apprx 15 minutes) Don't overbake- you want them to be soft! Remove from oven, brush with another coat of butter, and sprinkle garlic salt on top.

Enjoy. These are the most scrumptious breadsticks, ever!!!

Start of my blog

I have become quite a Domestic Diva, and love experimenting with recipes of all sorts. We have some favorites, but I'm constantly exploring and finding more.

So, taking Laura's example, I am starting up my own blog- partly for me to catalog all my endeavors, and partly to share with you.

Enjoy the journey!