Kitchen Club Recipes

My mother-in-law, Laura, gave me a 3-ring binder full of recipes from Edith Hansen Kitchen Club Recipes. In reading through it over the last few weeks, I have decided to cook my through all (or most) of the recipes.

There are a few that are a bit over the top even for me. :) "Preserved Dill" Why? And what would I use it for? The recipe reads like you are pickeling it. It doesn't tell you how to use it later. So I may not make that one. But if someone insists....

I will jump around, maybe do a soup one day and a desert a few days later. Then go for a casserole, then a sidedish. Let's just see what happens.

I'm shooting for making the Wintergreen cake on Friday.

We start our vacation on Friday. Trouble is Friday will be spent cooking. We will leave for parts unknown (vacation by the seat of our pants) on Saturday. Ron has some meat to smoke for the open house out to Generations Greenhouse. I will spend my time getting some much needed house cleaning done. Sneaking in some baking sounds like a good idea too. Let's see what happens!

(Would someone remind me to take pictures!!!)

Meat Pie

Sunday night we were invited over to the neighbors for supper. Rita fixed "Meat Pie". Everyone loved it, except me. It had WAY too many peas in it to even pick around. I hate peas and always have. It's a texture thing I think. Anyway, I decided to make my own version.

I made a biscuit crust. Then a meat mixture. Then some hash browns. Last was the cheese. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out so I didn't even think about taking pictures. I will make it again and take pics! This is what I did:

Biscuit Crust:

2 1/4 Cup Flour

1 T Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

4 T Butter, cold

3/4 Cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter. Mix in the milk to make a soft dough. Roll out to fit a 9" pie plate. Fit into pie plate and cut off excess. (make a free form biscuit out of it and bake along with the pie) Refrigerate while making the filling.

2 Garlic Cloves, chopped or minced

1/2 of an Onion, chopped

2-3 T Oil (I used coconut oil)

2-3 Cups leftover Beef Roast (I used the leftover Ropa Vieja)

1 Cup frozen Vegetable of your choice (I used Corn)

1/2 Cup Broth (or water)

1 T Cornstarch

2 Eggs, beaten

2 Cups frozen Hash Browns, thawed

1 Cup Shredded Cheese

Sauté the garlic and onion in the oil until soft. Add the meat and veggies and heat through. Mix the cornstarch with the broth and eggs. Off the heat, mix this into the meat mixture. Dump all that into the unbaked crust. Spread the hash browns on top and bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Layer the cheese on top and bake another 10 to 15 minutes.

It was very good. Ron is looking forward to the leftovers.

However, There was not enough "gravy" for me. It was a bit on the dry side. When I make it again I will make a gravy or use a can of "Cream of 'something' Soup".

If you like to experiment, please do and come back and let me know what you do. If not come back here and see what I end up doing. I still have some Ropa Vieja left. Ron may get another batch sooner than he wants! :)

Working on Bacon Cookies

I'm working on the bacon cookies again. I made the dough yesterday and Dietrick and I cut out 4 pig shaped cookies. Then I put them on the smoker to "bake".


I should have done 5 little piggies! :)

Ron had a bunch of other stuff on too, Ribs, Pork Loin, Beef Bottom Round and a Meatloaf. Today he will be doing some birds. There is a turkey and some chickens. When those are going strong in a smoky chamber, I'm going to get one side of the smoker to bake more cookies. Woo Hoo!!!

The 4 cookies we made yesterday went to: one for me of course, then Dan had one and I took 2 to the grocery store for Kim and Kent to sample. Kim didn't think it was gonna be good for her diet, but she tried a bite anyway. I thought they turned out great and so did Dan. Haven't heard back from Woods yet. Dan thought I should patent them.

I need to find a venue to sample and sell these things. Maybe I should start doing craft shows? Farmers Markets? I could take all of my different cookies and Screamwiches. What do you think? Wow, suppose I could quit my real job and just bake cookies for a living??? Now that would be my dream job!

I got this cookie cutter from CopperGifts.com . My best friend found this site for me. Thank you, Denise! I got a bacon shaped one too. I hope they turn out well. I'll let you know!

MY BAD!

MY BAD! I haven't been here since JULY??? Heavens how time flies. Was I having fun? I think so. What with the smoker taking up so much time.... We did breakfast in the garage only once. How does time get away from me so quickly?? It's that darn day job. If I didn't have to work to support my hobbies, I would have more time for my hobbies!!

What have I been doing as far as my baking is concerned? Well... For RAGBRAI, that went through Pocahontas, I did 713 Screamwiches. (Ice-cream sandwiches) That's 1426 cookies. Not including the rejects or the ones Ron ate. That was a project. But it was all chocolate chip cookies so it went pretty quickly. Now I am working on some holiday themed Screamwiches.

I am looking for a really good sugar cookie recipe. One that will hold up to the ice-cream. I'm no decorator so I have never gotten into sugar cookies that have to be decorated with fancy frosting colors and use bags and tips. But I might try my hand at a few things now.

As far as a Christmas themed Screamwich, I did some with mint chip ice-cream and a chocolate fudge cookie. They are very tasty.

Doesn't that look good? Of course you have to like mint! :)

Today is Saturday. I made some sugar cookie dough on Thursday night. (It should be cold enough!) I will work with that today. Ron will be running the smoker today, so I'm going to put together some Bacon Cookies. I ordered a pig cookie cutter. They also had a bacon shaped one so I got that too. But they aren't here yet. I am so looking forward to those getting here!

That cookbook I talked about in the last post has been burning a hole in my mind for a long time now. There are so many things I want to make. And maybe make-over, make new again. Tis the season for cooking in the house!

It's 52 degrees right now and not supposed to get above the upper 60's today. Perfect day to experiment! I may even write another post today!

Baby shower at 5:00pm today. I haven't seen little Elliot for far too long! That may put a damper on writing. I think tomorrow is free all day though. Ron will be smoking again and I will be baking and cooking!