Picking Up Speed

I've gotten a few things done around here lately....it must be the unseasonably (very unseasonably) cool weather we've had around here for the past week. I mean, 60's and 70's in Arkansas...in August!? All I can say is...hallelujah! Especially, since for the last month it's been, oh, about 150 around here. This is what Shepherd usually thinks of August in Arkansas:

But these days, it's more like:

Anyhoo...I finished the four patch. It was completed handpieced and handquilted. And I loved every minute of it. There's probably not a square corner on it, but I don't care. I love it, and I named it "Shepherd's Coat." For obvious reasons.

I also got the stitchery framed and hung in my sewing room. Lovely $1 dollar frame.

And we were given a couple of pounds of fresh figs, so I made fig preserves. Boy, oh boy you talk about making the house smell wonderful, and fall-like. And what beautiful jars they are.

Christmas goodies

Most of the baking and shopping are done. One more trip to the grocery store today, and then hopefully a week of peace and joy and family and good times and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Not necessarily in that order.

I made up some goodies for Jimmy's office. Cookies inside and a 'marvelous maraschino pound cake' on top. I need to remember to start earlier looking for packaging for baked goods. I always have visions of a Martha type custom box of cookies, but I end up with a plastic tub, hmm.

But they are good cookies!

I did manage to get a good picture of our tree (above), which I love. I'm loving the colored lights and the white lights mixed together.

I'll be taking a break from the blog to enjoy the holidays, so see you in 2008! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Berry Cobbler

When I received my latest issue of Cooking Light magazine, it had a yummy cobbler on the cover. My hubby said, "You need to make that!"

So I did. It calls for peaches and blueberries, but I didn't have any peaches on hand, so I used strawberries and blueberries instead. But boy, was it delicious! And topped off with vanilla ice cream...summer livin' at its' best!

Cupcake Country

We love cupcakes around here. They're the perfect size and so cheerful! It's hard not to like a cupcake, I find. But I found a new and delicious recipe in the newest edition of Midwest Living.

They are Kansas Sunflower Cupcakes (recipe on page 164). I made them yesterday and my husband raved (actually, he said he thought he heard angels singing, such was his delight!). And it makes a perfect dozen. Not too many.

The only substitution I made was for the wheat germ, because I didn't have any. So I put in some graham cracker crumbs. A definite keeper!

Saturday Morning Breakfast

Pancakes and sausage! I made them last weekend and though I would share the recipe for a great pancake from scratch. I like to make mine about the size of a CD. I can get about 16-18 pancakes from this recipe. I keep them warm in the oven until they're all cooked.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

dash salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I use the buttermilk powder)

1 tablespoon butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk and butter. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined (I use a whisk). Heat a griddle to medium high and pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle. Cook 1 to 2 minutes until bubbles cover the surface and the edges are slightly dry. Flip and cook about 30 seconds or so. Enjoy!

Neapolitan

I've been seeing lots of "neapolitan" around blog-land, and it's getting to me. Nevermind that it's delicious, as in neapolitan ice cream. I love that combination of colors: pink, cream, brown...wonderful! And lots of folks are making me neapolitan (groan!) with envy:

This lovely from Karen at Simply June.

Gorgeous yarn from several Etsy shops. FeltStudioUK, KristieHaynes, and WhorledPeace.

Super soft looking roving from Ruby's Daughter Handspun Yarn.

I saw a beautiful pair of socks done in a neapolitan colorway, but now, of course, I can't remember where I saw them. And in my overzealous housecleaning of my favorites folder I got rid of the link.

Brach's socks here

...this is all making me hungry.

Heavenly Apple Crisp

I made this apple crisp recipe this past weekend, and I kid you not, my husband raved about it for 10 solid minutes. He actually said, "This is what the angels eat in heaven!" He. loved. it.

It's really pretty quick and easy (it'd be even quicker and easier if I had one of those handy, dandy apple peelers like I've seen in a couple of places), so I thought I'd share it with you.

If I've done this right, you should be able to click on the picture below and it will open to a .pdf file you can print out.

or if that doesn't work, go here: Heavenly Apple Crisp Recipe

Sugar, sugar

The weekend commenced with plenty of baking, and plenty of cookies to show for it. I always, always have to make "Jimmies" (as my husband dubbed them when we married). I've been making these since I was in junior high school. Every year. That's a lot of cookie dough--but I do love it. Everybody always thinks it's a sugar cookie, but it's really a butter cookie with sugary icing. Makes all the difference in the world.

Here's the recipe just in case you're not in sugar-overload just yet:

Jimmies

1 cup (2 sticks) oleo (yes, I use oleo, Blue Bonnet, thank you)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (the real stuff, not imitation)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Cream the butter (oleo) and sugar together until creamy and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, blend well. Add the flour. The dough should come together in a big ball or mass of dough.

Place in plastic wrap (I shape it into a thick frisbee shape) and chill at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Roll out half of dough at a time, use favorite cookie cutters to make shapes, place on un-greased baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees about 10 to 12 minutes or until just turning golden around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool completely before icing.

Jimmies icing

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablspoons water
food coloring

Mix together in a bowl, add one food color. Repeat recipe for additional colors. I usually make red, green, yellow, and off-white. Ice!

Depending on the size cookie cutter you use, you can get anywhere from 4 to 6 dozen cookies from one batch. I made two batches and got about 12 dozen.

These cookies do great just left out on a platter for about 4 or 5 days, after that the icing will begin to dry out a bit, but they taste just as good. I usually mix up a couple of batches one evening and then bake and ice them another evening. I also made a couple of refridgerator cookies from Martha Stewart that are so easy and good! They're called Lime Meltaways, but I make them in lime and orange, yummy!

Then in the latest issue of Everyday Food, there's a 'Marvelous Marschino Mini Pound-Cake' recipe. It's actually an ad by www.cherrymkt.org, but it looked good! Makes six (and I could've easily gotten seven) six-inch long mini-cakes. I don't use cherries much, so this was a nice change.

I'll probably make some kind of pie for Christmas day...not sure what kind yet. But that will just about wrap up the baking for this holiday!

Hot Chocolate season

'Tis the season for hot chocolate! Is it hot chocolate or is it cocoa...I'm never really sure. But whatever it is, it's good. I bought a box of "milk chocolate" by Nestle, and added our own marshmallows. Just perfect in these oversize cups I found a couple of years ago. They have a redwork motif to them, and came with coordinating (but not matching) little plates, which are perfect for cookies (if I had some made, which I don't). The cookie making shall start this weekend. Lots and lots of cookies. I foresee a haze of powdered sugar over the entire kitchen!