Blog Posts

Tortilla Chip-Crusted Chicken Tenders, Tiger Beat Magazine & Nostalgia At The Old Five-and-Dimes.

11/11/2017

I stole something the other day.

countryliving.co.uk

No, not food.

Per se.

Let me try to explain.

I was at a doctor's office Wednesday.
A real nice one where they had a million gazillion cool magazines and not old ugly wrinkly ones that were four years old.

These were current magazines with shiny covers and nary a blob of
spaghetti sauce or coffee runs on them, unlike like the magazines at my house.

Remember when you were a kid and being mesmerized by the shinynessness
(that's a word, look it up,
in the Pretend Word dictionary)
of the magazine departments in five-and-dimes or
grocery stores or Woolworths?

Remember when you couldn't wait to buy the newest issue of Tiger Beat magazine??

My boyfrahhhn was Lance Kerwin up there.
Which one is he, you ask? Top right corner, FOOL!

Lance starred in James at 15. Remember that show??

No?
You don't remember that show??
Well it was only on for one season, I think.

Well just in case you need to brush up on what you were watching on Friday nights in 1970 while lounging on the couch in your footie jammies after eating mom's goulash and a couple slices of Wonder bread...

Anyway, back to what I stole.
I didn't necessarily "steal" this magazine,
I'm no convict, man!

I stole a page from the magazine. A page.
SHUT UP!!! I'm planning on returning it.
At next year's physical.

Just so you know, this magazine was from summer of this year.
It's not like it was a collectible issue or anything like the fall and holiday issue,
your honor.

Now do you want to hear about these
Tortilla Chip-Crusted Chicken Tenders
or not?

These tenders are super easy
and taste like a chicken tender in a taco shell, ha!
The dipping sauces are fantastic!

Here's the fixins.

This recipe is straight outta the Jul.Aug.2017 Midwest Living Magazine

Chip-Crusted Chicken Tenders

Makes: 4 servings
Hands On 20 mins
Total Time 35 mins

Tortilla chips provide the crispy coating for these kid-friendly (and kid-at-heart-friendly) chicken tenders. The easy dipping sauce can be flavored with Sriracha or honey mustard.

Ingredients

1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 1/3 cups finely crushed yellow corn tortilla chips*
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pound chicken breast tenderloins
2 tablespoons sriracha or 3 tablespoons honey mustard

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees . Whisk together the mayonnaise and buttermilk; transfer half the mixture to a shallow dish. Set aside the rest for sauce. In another dish, combine finely crushed tortilla chips, garlic powder and black pepper.
Dip chicken tenderloins in the mayo mixture, then the chip mixture, to coat. Bake on a foil-lined baking sheet for 15 minutes or until golden. For dipping sauce, stir Sriracha sauce or honey mustard into the reserved mayo mixture.

Tip

* You will need 5 ounces (or 4 1/2 cups) of chips to get 1 1/3 cups finely crushed tortilla chips.

Click HERE to go straight to the recipe on the
Midwest Living website so you can print it off or save it!

We start by crushing up the tortilla strips.

The recipe calls for yellow corn tortillas.

White corn would have a much milder flavor, which is fine.
Ima try that next time.

Prepare the mayo and buttermilk and the crushed tortilla chips and garlic powder and pepper.
You're only going to use half the buttermilk mixture, the other half you pour into separate dishes for the dipping sauces.

I used chicken breasts and just cut them into strips.
Dredging and coating station ready here, Houston.

Dredge the chicken strips in the buttermilk/mayo and coat in the crushed chip mixture and set on tray.

While the chicken tenders are cooking in the 450 degree oven (they cook QUICK!), whip up your honey mustard and
sriracha dipping sauces.

The tenders come out of the oven nicely coated,
slightly browned and crispy.

The yellow corn tortilla chips I used had a
strong corn taste.
The dipping sauces were delicious to cut some of the intensity of the corn.

I also made (or burned, ha!) sweet potatoes fries and the sweetness of the fries was a nice complement to the
corn-chipped tenders and the tangy sauces.

Sweet potato fries always look weird but they do be delicious!!

Okay kids, that's all I
got for today.

Closing out today's magazine-themed post are covers from a couple magazines I have laying 'round the ponderosa here.

Speed Age magazine
1955

Popular Mechanics
1983

Oh.
By the way, the Bay City Rollers would like to say from the cover of 1977's 16 Magazine:
"Have a great S-S-S-Saturday Niiiiiiight,
S-S-S-Saturday Niiiiiiiight!!"

Thanks for checking in, y'all!
I appreciate it!
I've been cookin' up a storm and will be posting several recipes this week including another Thanksgiving quick menu.
I can sense your eye roll, SHUT UP IT WILL BE EXCITING no it won't but hey it's new recipes....wait for it, wait for it...from a MAGAZINE!!!
Take care,
don't hold my 70s geekiness love against me, heeeeeeee
and we'll talk at ya soon!!!

1 Day Prep-Ahead Small Thanksgiving Time Saver Meal

11/5/2017

Greetings, All!!!

*Thanksgiving*
A day of food, family & friends or just hanging out in your pajamas! AmIRight :)
So I was on a mission to find time saver recipes for traditional Thanksgiving dishes,
when it occurred to me it's really the prep work that takes the most time, NOT the actual cooking.

So I found recipes that could be made up (rolls, pie, cranberries!) or prepped up
(stuffing, turkey, carrots, potatoes!) the day before and assembled and cooked quite nicely
and efficiently the following day.

Now this menu is for a small gathering: 2-6 people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angie's 1 Day Prep-Ahead
Thanksgiving Menu
Links to ALL recipes at the bottom of this page!
Herb-Roasted Turnkey Breast with Basic Gravy
Cheddar and Jalapeno Stufing
The Best Damn Vegan Mashed Potatoes
Honeyed Carrots and Oranges
Bourbon-Cranberry Compote
Homemade Butter Flake Pull Apart Rolls
Chocolate Cream Pie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll take you through some steps here with some brief commentary on each dish.

Herb-Roasted
Turnkey Breast
Ina Garten's recipe

Let's start with the 7.3 lb turkey breast that cooked in two hours.
TWO hours!

Prep Day Ahead!
I made the herby olive oil paste up the night before, coated the turkey and put it back in fridge.

Cooks up beautifully and slices up nicely.
The herbed paste rubbed directly on the meat and on top of skin was fantastic!!
Juices were added to the Basic Gravy.

Let's move along to the Basic Gravy.
No prep-ahead of this. Day of only.
I made a roux.

Add the drippings from the turkey roasting pan into the chicken broth.

I used
homemade chicken broth.

Whisk the broth and drippings into the skillet and bring to boil then simmer until thickened.

This gravy was hands down the star of the show.
*STAR OF THE SHOW*
I think the key is homemade chicken broth but I don't know that for sure. If you don't have homemade, buy the absolute best kind of broth you can.

Let's move along to the PREP AHEAD
Cheddar and
Jalapeno Stuffing.
By the way, I believe this recipe could be assembled and cooked day ahead and just add some extra chicken broth when heating up next day.
Note: I could not taste the jalapeno really, add more jalapeno if you like heat.

The recipe called for Italian bread so that's what I got was Italian bread.

By the way y'all, I do not know how to cook without a recipe.

Completely serious. So I tend to stay true to the recipe ingredients and amounts.

The day before...
cut or tear the bread up and bake in a 375 oven for 12 minutes, until dried out.

Cut up all the vegetables, grate up the cheese and deposit all ingredients into the pan you will use to bake the stuffing in tomorrow and
stick in the fridge.

Day of, melt butter and saute the vegetables.

This recipe calls for a half cup beer.

It can also be left out completely.

Cook until beer evaporates, then transfer mixture to a large bowl.

Add scallions, broth, eggs and cheddar to mixture and and toss in bread crumbs.

Okay,
I have this super exciting picture of buttered up aluminum foil to remind you to, you know, butter up your aluminum foil.

Cause if you don't,
all the good browned bits of stuffing will stick to the foil and you'll be sad.

Pour stuffing into prepared pan and bake covered with foil, then remove foil and continue baking. I let mine stay in 10-15 minutes longer to get more browned.

This stuffing dish really could be prepped, assembled and cooked the day before and just reheated day of with some extra chicken broth. I made this up in the morning, stuck it in fridge until dinner and then just reheated it in oven. This is why I used a metal pan too.

Another note with this dish: You can NOT taste the heat from the jalapenos. I used two seeded jalapenos just as the recipe states and there was no heat. Probably added flavor but there was no heat so it's safe for little kiddies.

Okay, let's get these
Best Damn Vegan
Mashed Potatoes made.
Disclaimer: I had full intentions of using vegan butter but I didn't, I used real butter.
Note: I wanted a mashed potato recipe that was different than the same old, same old, that's why I made these.
Also, Yukon gold potatoes are so naturally delicious buttery anyway.

By the way, these CAN BE MADE DAY AHEAD but I just prepped everything the night before and made day of.
I washed all the potatoes and set them aside. I then roasted the garlic by cutting off the top third, rubbed the cloves with olive oil, wrapped up in foil and roasted for 50 minutes. Mmmmmmm, always smells awesome. Also, chop up those chives and store everything but potatoes in the fridge until next day.

Before the meal, I threw the cut Yukon golds into boiling salted water and cooked until soft.

I mixed in butter, salt and pepper and the deeeelicious roasted garlic. I ate spoonfuls and then transferred the remaining into a bowl and topped with those chives. Yum!
These potatoes are awesome with or without gravy!!

Now, y'all, let's get to these super easy peasy
Honeyed Carrots
and Oranges.
I prepped everything night before and cooked them day of.
(I liked these so much I went out and bought more carrots to make this exact recipe again this week.)

Please do NOT cut the carrots in half lengthwise like I did, just buy thin carrots, don't use thick ones. If you do use thick carrots, then okay, you can cut them in half lenghtwise. Mine were thin already. Also, dudes, don't be like me and leave the freaking top on. Just don't.

The night before, I peeled the carrots and sliced the orange and had the honey/oil all measured out.

I had chopped up some dill but decided not to use the dill on the finished dish, these were just too darn good on their own.

This was super easy to prepare as well as to assemble and cook.

Day of, pull out the carrots and oranges, toss in olive oil and honey, salt and pepper, arrange on cookie sheet.
By the way, the aroma of the oranges and honey is fantastic!

Cook until soft. So easy.
Again, cut off the tops of the carrots. I did not do that cause I am a fool.
Don't be a fool like your pal Angie, just do the right thing.

These carrots were absolutely delicious, just make sure to follow the directions exactly!

Y'all. These Butter Flake Pull Apart Rolls
are delicious!!
This is Alton Brown's recipe and I always get PTSD from baking cause I am horrible at it.
I actually was able to make these without using too many swear words. Maybe three.
Four. Five at the most. Okay, six. SHUT UP!

So these are the fixins for these pull apart rolls.
I did NOT make these up a day ahead of time. I do think they would be fine made up 24 hours ahead and then just reheated shortly before the meal the next day.
Also I do not own a stand mixer. I old-school used my hand mixer. Worked fine.

Now this recipe calls for some ingredients to be weighed.

Don't fight it, just do it.

These are baked items.
You want to use correct measurements even if you have to bring out the scale.

So mix the stuff according to directions.
I love how I am so technical with my language. Seriously dudes, I can not bake so I am just trying to get through this as quick as I can.

Dough before rising and dough after rising.
Now if *I* can do this correctly, anyone can!!!

Okay, let's slow this down a bit.....let me explain...so roll the dough out to a 12" x 12"...

Cut 12 - 1" strips. Now I don't own a pizza cutter, so I pulled out this vintage pastry cutter I paid 50 cents for at a consignment store last year. Aaaaand this pastry cutter is broke and wobbly and doesn't make straight lines.

So I bring out my pizza cutter, also known as a plain ordinary knife, and cut 12 - 1" strips.

Okay, so this is my first try at the strips and stacking them.

And this is my second try at the other half of the dough, I got much better, especially after I figured out I need to GENTLY pull up the strips
and not stretch them.

My initial attempt is at the bottom...Second try at the top.

Set each section in a sprayed muffin cup.
Let rise until double.

Then bake 8-10 minutes. Or overbake like I did but then brush a ton of melted butter on the tops. They were still delicious!!

Okay, only TWO more recipes left!!!!
This one is so easy and delicious! Make it same day or day ahead, doesn't matter, it's delicious both days!
Bourbon-Cranberry Compote!

Combine and simmer.

Okay Friends, last item on the menu is a
Chocolate Cream Pie!
Tim doesn't eat pumpkin pie so I made a Chocolate Cream Pie with a
store-bought whole wheat crust.
This can TOTALLY be made up a day ahead of time!!!

Okay, the piece on the right up there looks a little wonky but trust me, deeeelicious!!

These are the fixins.

First,

chop up the semi sweet chocolate.

Whisk the dry ingredients together then add the heavy cream and eggs.
Don't forget the espresso powder!

Whisk in the cream and milk over medium heat.

Pour that lusciousness over the chopped chocolate & butter and stir...

Mmmmm, lookin' good!

Pour into a pie shell...

Buy whipped cream OR make this super easy whipped topping...remember, chill the bowl AND the beaters!!
Homemade Whipped Cream:
In a chilled bowl (very important, a CHILLED bowl, meaning chill that sucker in the freezer), combine 1 cup whipping cream, 2 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Beat with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form.
Or continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Here's the deal on this Chocolate Pie...it is really rich!
This Chocolate Cream Pie is not for people who do not appreciate
deep layers of chocolate.
If you want a boring, bland chocolate pie, do not make this!
Oh, make a strong pot of coffee cause it will go wonderfully with this dessert!

Okay guys, I will come clean here.
I was planning on making this menu for just
Tim and me as a trial run.

But then friends of ours called and wanted
to pop out Friday night.

heeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

I said fine...

just come hungry.

Once they got here, I bamboozled them that they were going to participate in my
1 Day Prep-Ahead Small Thanksgiving
Time Saver Meal blog post.

They didn't seem to mind :) :) :)
and we had a fantastic time!!!

Okay, so that's all the recipes, friends!

Below are all the links to
the recipes!!

Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast with Basic Gravy
Cheddar and Jalapeno Stuffing
The Best Damn Vegan Mashed Potatoes
Honeyed Carrots and Oranges
Bourbon-Cranberry Compote
Homemade Butter Flake Rolls
Chocolate Cream Pie

If you have any questions at all,
contact me at the phone number or email address on the contact page or just ask away here in the comments!

Thanks for checking in!! I appreciate it!!
Have a great early holiday season!
Stay warm, have fun, eat delicious food,
and we'll be talking soon!!
:)

A Spoooooooky Chicken Noodle Casserole From Scratch. Actually, Only Thing Spooky Is There Is No Canned Soup In The Recipe.

10/30/2017

BOO!

So this is on my way home from Iowa City.

I see it from Hwy 1 and it just tickles me to no end.

Know what else tickles me?
This picture of our neighbor's newly married children setting up home on their property a couple months ago.

And I will tell you this comforting
Chicken Noodle Casserole recipe tickles me too, cause it is from scratch and includes no cans of soup!

I did make
one change,
I used potato chips instead of panko for the topping.

Potato chip topping is reminiscent of my childhood.
Plus, mmmmmm,
potato chips.

Here's the fine fixins for this Chicken Noodle Casserole (From Scratch) recipe.

This recipe is from
Spend with Pennies website.
Click HERE to go directly to her site where you can print off the recipe with full directions! Be sure to check out her other recipes, too!

Chicken Noodle Casserole from scratch
Straight outta www.spendwithpennies.com
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion , diced
1 1/2 cups each sliced celery & carrots
6 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon thyme
pepper to taste
3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth (ready to serve)
1 cup milk
4 oz cream cheese (block, not spreadable)
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 package medium egg noodles (15oz)
4 cups cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1/4 cup finely diced red pepper
TOPPING
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup Panko bread crumbs

Quick notes: I subbed edamame for peas cause Tim still needs therapy for being forced to eat peas one time as a kid. (DON'T USE EDAMAME, USE PEAS!!!) Also I try to use Kalona Supernatural (local organic dairy) for the majority of my dairy products.

Okay, so prep all the vegetables and shred the cheese.
I used both white and yellow cheddar.

Saute away!

Add flour, chicken broth and milk.

Let it bubble, add the cheeses and stir...

Combine all ingredients.

Very Important! The recipe doesn't say but trust me, YOU WILL NEED TO ADD SALT AND PEPPER AT THIS POINT!

Topping calls for panko, I went with potato chips from my childhood.

Pour into greased dish.

Spread topping over noodles. I used a full 5 oz. bag.

In oven.

Recipe calls for 30-35 minutes,

I left mine in around 45 minutes.

DONE and YUM!!

This is a nice creamy, tasty
Chicken Noodle Casserole made from scratch!

A nostalgic comfort meal.
The flavors really are spot on!

Creamy!
Just the right amount!

Next day the leftovers were even better!

Again, click HERE for the full recipe from Spend with Pennies!

In closing, I'd like to share all the spooktacular decorating in the house.
And by "all the spooktacular decorating", I mean the tiny amount I put in the entry. Don't be scared :)

Vintage Boy Scouts pinewood derby cars.

Vintage cake and cupcake toppers I picked up from Sister's Garden.
I think those little cars are from Cracker Jacks boxes??

Vintage telephone lineman's test phone.

Old-timey Trick or Treat snack bags,
how cute are these?!!!

I picked up much of my Halloween decorations from Sister's Garden on Hwy 1.
Look at these ultra cute hay bales in their field!

And of course my favorite big goblin and little goblin in all of PumpkinPatchLand.

Okay y'all! Thanks for checking in!!!
Have a fun Halloween whether you dress up and take the kiddies
trick-or-treating or whether you close the shades and hunker down for
a cozy night in!
Stay warm and we'll talk at ya soon!

Better Homes and Garden BHG.com

Lip Smackin' Caramel Apple Bowls...Oh My Gosh, AMAZING!!!!!

10/29/2017

C'mere!!! Shhhhhh....Shhhhhh.....Baked apples are inside here along with brown sugar and caramel sauce.
YES I said caramel sauce! Buttery, delicious caramel sauce, sliced apples tossed in brown sugar and a nice flaky, buttery puff pastry crust!

Apples
Brown sugar
Ooey gooey caramel sauce
Buttery flaky pastry top

This rustic fall dessert reminds me of the song Autumn in New York.
Just push play and Ella Fitzgerald and Louis B Armstrong will transport you to your cozy space that includes a good book, warm cup of spiced tea
and a fuzzy soft throw.

It certainly is Autumn here.

Soon, the days of hanging laundry on the line
will come to a temporary close.

Days are getting shorter.

And work continues to hum along.

At times work comes to a stop for a day,
or a weekend...

Like when there's a birthday party for 6 yr old,
one and only grandchild Little Boy Blue.

Sometimes the beauty of where you live in the fall just overtakes your senses.

...

Okay, let's get back to today's featured recipe, shall we?

Single Serving Caramel Apples is so delicious but really, look at these ingredients,
why WOULDN'T IT BE DELICIOUS??!!

This recipe is from a 2012 Midwest Living fall special publication called
Comfort Food but all the recipes are online too.

Here's the direct link to the recipe so you can
print it off. Just click HERE.

Single Serving Caramel Apples
Straight outta Midwest Living Comfort Food Magazine 2012
Fluffy pastry and tender apples become absolutely irresistible when combined with the caramel and brown sugar in this dessert recipe.ingredients

1 17.3 - ounce package frozen puff pastry sheets (2 sheets), thawed
Butter
4 medium Granny Smith, Jonagold, and/or Fuji apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, cut up
1/2 cup caramel-flavored ice cream topping
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Whipped cream

directions

Unfold pastry sheets onto a lightly floured surface. Arrange eight* 4- to 5-inch individual quiche dishes, pie plates, or individual shallow casserole dishes atop pastry sheets, top sides down. (If the pastry sheets are not large enough for all the dishes to fit, roll out the pastry sheets until they are large enough.)
Using a small knife, cut out pastry around the dishes. Discard excess pastry. Set pastry aside. Butter insides of dishes; set aside.
In a large bowl toss together apple slices and brown sugar. Arrange apple slices in buttered dishes. Dot with the 3 tablespoons butter. Drizzle apples with ice cream topping.
Place a cut out pastry piece atop each dish. Press pastry against the top insides of the dishes. Brush pastry with egg yolk; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Place dishes on a very large baking sheet.
Bake in a 400 degree F oven about 20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and apples are just tender. Cool slightly. Serve warm with whipped cream. Makes 8 servings.

tip

* If you do not have eight of the same kind of dish, use a combination of dishes.

make ahead tip

To make ahead, prepare as above through step 4. Cover each dish with plastic wrap. Chill up to 6 hours. To serve, uncover dishes; bake as directed above.

Now I used four different apples.
Cause I'm a REBEL!

No I'm not, it's just what I had on hand.

And this is the caramel sauce
I used.

Let's begin by thinly slicing the apples and
coating the apple slices with brown sugar in a bowl.

Butter up the ramekins. I thought I would have enough for a small pie pan too but I did not. Instead I just added two more ramekins for a total of 6. My ramekins are deeper. Shallow ones would be ideal.

Arrange the sliced apples and butter dots in the ramekins and drizzle that luscious caramel topping goodness in.
Don't be stingy with that drizzling!!

Struggle to cut out the puff pastry tops.

I need therapy with anything to do with baking.

Now take the puff pastry cutout and press it against the INSIDE of the BUTTERED ramekin/oven proof dishes.
Note: I absolutely hate anything to do with baking (I am HORRIBLE at it) so I did the best I could here, I mean, it really was a struggle for an idiot baker like me
to put these puff pastry tops on.

Yeah, tell me these puppies don't look pretty darn impressive!!! Yee Haw!!!

Brush these tops with an egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar.

Throw these in the oven.

The recipe says 20 minutes.
My ramekins are more deep so they needed 35-40 minutes.
By the way, the thing in the bottom of my oven is a pizza stone that stays there all the time.

Oh hello deliciousness!

Top with homemade whipped topping.

I interrupt this very important blog with a quick tutorial on how to make delicious, easy peasy whipped cream.

Homemade Whipped Cream:
In a chilled bowl (very important, a CHILLED bowl, meaning chill that sucker in the freezer), combine 1 cup whipping cream, 2 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Beat with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Or continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Madge, I'll take one of those WITH
whipped cream please! And a refill on the coffee please.

Thanks, Madge! You're the best!

Seriously, this is like a caramel apple in a bowl.
The caramel sauce, butter, the apples, brown sugar,
the quality puff pastry all come together
to make a wonderful fall dessert that won't disappoint.

Oh, did I say dessert?
Cause I ate a leftover one for breakfast.
It was my fruit serving for the day.
Best fruit serving I've had all season.

Okay, that's all I got for this overcast, frosty Sunday morning, y'all!

Next recipe Ima post will either be easy peasy crispy french fries that will blow your mind how effortless they are or a chicken noodle casserole that does not use
canned soup.

OH CALM DOWN, NELLIE!!
It may be some tangy chicken wings, too. Who knows.

Thanks for checking in, y'all!
I appreciate it!
Stay warm and we'll talk at ya soon!!

A Kansas City Steak Soup that Hearkens You Back to Childhood

10/27/2017

HELLOOOOOOOOOOO
EVERYBODY!!!!!!

Kansas City Steak Soup!

And by "steak", I mean hamburger!!!!!!!
Mmmmmmm....

Even better, AmIRight??!!!

It's been nine months since I last shared
a recipe with y'all!
I missed you!!

I gotta tell ya, though, when I made this recipe,
I just knew,
this MUST be shared...
All over the world!!!
Or at least on this
here blog wit' mah friends, ha!

Okay, so here's the recipe:
I found this in the Midwest Living Comfort Food Magazine back in 2012.
I paid $7.95 for the magazine at Hartig Drug and kept it,
it's chock full of really good recipes.
Bonus: All those recipes can be found online!

Direct link to this recipe is here: Midwest Living's Kansas City Steak Soup

Kansas City Steak Soup
Straight outta the 2012 Midwest Living Comfort Food magazine

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (sirloin)
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
2 stalks celery, sliced (1 cup)
2 14 - ounce can lower-sodium beef broth or 3-1/2 cups beef stock
1 28 - ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 10 - ounce package frozen mixed vegetables
2 tablespoons steak sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

In a 4-quart Dutch oven, cook beef, onion and celery over medium heat until meat is brown and vegetables are tender. Drain well; return to Dutch oven.
Stir in 1 can of the beef broth, undrained tomatoes, mixed vegetables, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together remaining can of beef broth and the flour. Stir into mixture in Dutch oven. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Makes 6 main-dish servings.

Okay, so here's the lineup for these fine fixins of this
old-school lumberjack soup aka Kansas City Steak Soup!

Dude, seriously, look! This recipe is so easy!!!!!
Anyone can make it!! Promise!!

We start by cooking the beef, onions and celery...
cook this on high heat,
don't turn the mixture over too often,
let that beef sear on the bottom and sides of the pan.

d

Stir in the beef broth, the tomatoes, sauces
and mixed vegetables...

Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.
*Angie's note: I simmered for 40 minutes, cause I'm a rebel.
No I'm not, I just forgot how long it was on the stove. SHUT UP!

Next step is to whisk that flour into the beef broth.

And then mix that floured broth into the soup and let it simmer for 10-20 minutes and let it thicken a bit.

Okay, let me tell you what I love about this soup:
1. Tim says this is a lumberjack soup. He ate two and a half bowls. He said he even liked the peas in it.
2. I say the flavor reminds me of soup from when I was a kid, a soup that had hamburger in it and a tomato base.
3. This is a hearty, Iowa Fall soup.
4. The frozen mixed vegetables add a nice element.
5. The steak sauce and Worcestershire sauce bring on a nice tangy zing.

I hope you like this soup and and want to make it sometime this fall!!
Just make sure have a nice loaf of crusty bread to eat with it! YUM!

Okay, so in closing, I want to share some images of life just this afternoon, early evening, of the field next us...

Thanks for checking in me with me, friends!!
I have a more recipes to share in the coming days!

Let me know if you make this awesome Kansas City Steak Soup and what you think about it!

Oh! One other thing!!
Just wanted you to know nuthins' changed...

Exhibit #1:

Exhibit #2:

Yeahhhhh, I still hate doing dishes...cleaning...you know,
all that boring crap, right!

Yup, life moves on.
:)

Okay, y'all! Thanks for checking in and I will be posting again soon,
possibly tomorrow with an apple caramel something thing that just looks too good
to pass up making!

Take care and stay warm!!!

Angie's Show and Tell Day with a Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Soup, 70s Toys That Would Poke An Eye Out, Inappropriate Candy Cigarettes, and a Beautiful Kaffe Fasset Quilt!!

1/7/2017

So this week turned out to be a
little frosty, eh?!

Always nice to drink a warm comforting tonic first thing
in the morning though.
This is a mug of warm water with:
Juice of One Lemon
3/4 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 Tbsp. Raw Honey
One dash Cayenne Pepper

Something else warming up the inside spaces is this dehydrator with beef jerky drying in it.

Here's the recipe I used.
It's called Jerky Lover's Jerky - Sweet, Hot, and Spicy

Quick note: The recipe as written will handle
THREE lbs. of meat, not just ONE lb.

I made 26 lbs of beef total this season.
26 lbs!!!!

After all that beef dried in the dehydrator, it netted like 18 pieces.

Exaggeration a bit but still,

they shrink like the old Shrinky Dinks from the 70s.

Remember those??? Remember burning yourself on the oven and pan?

Frankly I don't remember my Ma (or anybody's Ma) ever being this excited to help kids shrink dinks in the oven in the 70s. :)

But hey, at least those same 70s parents made up for it by letting us kids blow giant super elastic bubble plastic balloons that I'm sure had
no toxicity in them whatsoever.

And what about the Click Clacks...aka Clackers.
Man, I LOVED THOSE THINGS!!

Did you know they were banned? Cause they broke up into little shards of glass. Probably poked someone's eye out, too.

But I digress, let's get to what this post is really about:
Roasted Red Pepper Soup!

Do you like spicy? This soup is spicy!
It's also super healthy, has delicious flavor and is packed full of red peppers.
Red peppers are full of vitamin C and are an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.

The spiciness comes from that ONE lone jalapeno,
which gets seeded and deveined even.

If you want less heat, just use ***HALF*** a jalapeno.

This recipe is
from the
Better Homes and Gardens Publication
Soups & Stews.

This mag is on newstands right now.

Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Soup
From Better Homes and Gardens Soups & Stews Publication 2016
Ingredients

2 whole garlic bulbs
1 large onion, sliced
1 tablespoon snipped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 large red sweet peppers
1/3 cup firmly packed stemmed fresh parsley sprigs
1/3 cup firmly packed stemmed fresh basil leaves
1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and chopped* Angie's note: Use only 1/2 jalapeno for kids
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Bottled hot pepper sauce
1 32 ounce carton chicken broth
1/2 cup half-and-half or light cream
Shredded fresh basil (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut off the top 1/2 inch of the garlic bulbs to expose ends of individual cloves. Leaving garlic bulbs whole, remove any loose, papery outer layers. Place bulbs, cut ends up, and onion in a small baking dish. Sprinkle with rosemary; drizzle with oil. Quarter sweet peppers lengthwise; remove stems, seeds, and membranes. Place peppers, cut sides down, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast garlic,onion, and sweet peppers for 20 to 25 minutes or until garlic feels soft when squeezed and peppers are charred and very tender.
Bring foil up around peppers and fold edges together to enclose. Let stand about 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Using a sharp knife, loosen edges of skins; gently pull off skins in strips and discard. When garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze garlic paste from individual cloves. Discard skins.
In a blender or food processor combine garlic paste, onion, sweet peppers, parsley, basil leaves, jalapeno pepper, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and hot pepper sauce. Cover and blend or process until nearly smooth. Add 1 cup of the broth; cover and blend or process until smooth.
Pour pureed mixture into a large saucepan. Stir in the remaining broth and the half-and-half. Cook over medium-low heat until warm. If desired, top servings with shreded basil.

So let's start this soup by roasting two full heads of garlic and an onion.
Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with fresh rosemary and pop in the oven.

After about 20-30 minutes the garlic bulbs and onions are roasted.

Okay, so I should have kept the bulbs in longer cause when I popped them out of their paper,

they certainly weren't of a
"paste" consistency,
but they were roasted and soft.

I threw the quartered red peppers in to roast and
blister up...

I stuck the roasted peppers in a plastic baggie for ten minutes so it would be easy to remove the skins...

A bowl of yummy smoky, roasted sweet peppers
just waiting to go into soup.

I prepped the remaining ingredients...

Because I have attention issues, I arranged everything on the counter in an effort to stay focused when blending the ingredients in the correct order.

So basically all that arranging was a waste of time, you pretty much throw everything in the blender at the same time except the chicken stock.
By the way, throw the stock in the blender at this time too, otherwise the blender will just gum up with the peppers and such.

And this is the base for your soup!

Throw
the soup base into a pan on the stove on medium-low heat.

Pour in the remaining chicken stock (I used vegetable stock cause I wanted this to be completely vegetarian) and the
half-and-half (I used whole milk).

Heat until warm.

The soup will regain it's sharp red color as it heats up.

Fill up a bowl and grab a couple biscuits
to dunk.

Now this recipe as directed is SPICY, due to the whole albeit de-seeded jalapeno. Tim and I loved this!!
HOWEVER if you have little kiddos, DIAL DOWN THE JALAPENO SPICE BY HALF!!

This is such a super healthy soup.
If made with vegetarian broth instead of chicken broth,
this is a completely vegetarian dish.
Having said that I do think chicken broth adds a
wonderful warming flavor addition.

I hope you try out this soup recipe sometime!

So remember when we were discussing the toys of the 70s our moms bought us?
Well...
Remember these??

And of course we played with all those toys up above with these hanging off our childhood lips.

Now, if you were a girl in the 70s,
besides playing Rock em Sock em Robots with candy cigs hanging out of our mouths,
does anyone remember wearing these capes???

This is me. In my pink cape.
c 1972 ish
My mom made this. It was lined with a white satin type of material if I remember correctly.

Oh how I loved it!

I mean LOVED it.

Wore it everywhere.

Look at those buttons, so cute!!

It looks like I have a button on the end of my nose and am hoarding them in my cheeks too.

Anyway, this isn't the 70s anymore,
so my Ma makes me QUILTS instead of capes now!
This quilt is in the guest bedroom.

This is the quilt opened up.
Isn't it gorgeous??!!!!!!!

I love the jelly roll pattern, so fun and fresh.
I asked mom for bright oranges, turquoises, yellows, greens, you know, happy colors!

She nailed it with this Kaffe Fassett fabric!
I LOVE Kaffe Fassett fabric!!!!! It feels sooooo rich, luxurious, and the
different patterns and colors he designs is visually breathtaking!
Modern, fresh. Speaks to his many travels.

Here's the real kicker though,
Ma does all her own quilting, too!

Now my Ma is not a flashy or flamboyant person at all,
she's very modest and humble,
especially when it comes to the beautiful work she does.

Dear Ma,

IT'S *MY* BLOG AND I CAN SHOW PICTURES OF MY BEAUTIFUL QUILT IF
I WANT TO!!

So there.

Love,
Angie

P.S. I burned the top of my hand on Kim's Easy-Bake Oven one day when I wasn't supposed to be playing with it.

P.P.S. That yellow and orange Barbie camper was the best all time present ever. I can still smell how the plastic smelled on the back fold-down table.

P.P.S. Um. Candy cigarettes? ???? ?????

Okay Friends, that's all I got for today!!!!
Stay tuned for another riveting blog post where I share a baked chicken thigh recipe that tastes JUST LIKE fried chicken out of a pan!

I know, right!!

Thanks for checking in!!!!

Have a good rest of the weekend y'all
and we'll talk at ya soon!!

Helloooooo, I'm Back!!!! Sweet Harvest Moment and A Stuffed Chicken Breast That You Will Want To Make, You're Welcome.

1/2/2017

Well hello there, Friends!!!!

Thanks for checking in!!!

Hungry?

Want a recipe that's nice and easy?

Easy on the waistline too?

And doesn't require a hundred million ingredients?

Roasted Red Pepper
and Prosciutto
Stuffed Chicken Breasts!

Inside each of these rollups
is provolone cheese,
spinach,
roasted red pepper
and
prosciutto.

I've made these probably 5 or 7 times in the last 3 months.
Tim loves them!

This recipe is straight outta Skinnytaste website.
Click on that link there ^^^ and it will take you directly to the recipe!

If you're not familiar with Gina Homolka's popular food website and blog, check it out!

She has two popular cookbooks out.

Amazon.com

Roasted Red Pepper and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken
Straight outta www.skinnytaste.com
Go straight to the Skinnytaste website to print off the recipe!

Ingredients:

8 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each
4 (2.8 oz) slices thin lean prosciutto, sliced in half
4 slices reduced fat provolone or mozzarella, sliced in half (Sargento)
8 slices (2.5 oz) roasted peppers (packed in water or homemade)
24 fresh baby spinach leaves (about 1 oz)
1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1 lemon, juice of
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and fresh pepper
olive oil non-stick spray

Directions:
Wash and dry the chicken cutlets well with paper towels.
Combine breadcrumbs in one bowl and in a second bowl mix the olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.
Place each cutlet on a work surface such as a cutting board and lay 1/2 slice prosciutto, 1/2 slice cheese, 1 slice of roasted pepper and 3 spinach leaves on one side of the chicken cutlet.
Roll and place seam side down on a dish (no toothpicks needed). Repeat with the remaining chicken.
Dip the chicken in the lemon oil mix, then into the breadcrumbs to coat and place on the baking dish; when done spray the top of the chicken with olive oil or cooking spray.
Bake 25 – 30 minutes.
Serve immediately.

FYI: One of the nice things about Gina's Skinnytaste website is she lists
nutritional values at the beginning of all her recipes. Check them out on her page.

So these are the fixins you'll need for the
Roasted Red Pepper and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken.

Now this is the prosciutto I used, La Quercia brand.
La Quercia an award winning, nationally known company based out of
Norwalk, Iowa y'all!!

Prosciutto is an Italian dry-cured ham, thinly sliced,
like paper thin.

You can find prosciutto in the cooler section of your grocery by the bacon
or by the specialty cheeses.

I buy the "Applewood Smoked"
when I can find it.

So the recipe calls for roasted red peppers out of a JAR.

Well,
I always roast my own red peppers.

So I olive oiled up the red pepper...

And stuck it on the grill...

I still had hope...

Uh yeah

no.

So I roasted another PEPPER up on my stovetop.
And then took off the charred skin and scooped out the seeds and veins and then sliced it for the chicken rollups.

Next I filleted the chicken breasts...they were too thick.
I could have pounded them but just filleted them into cutlets instead.

 I set everything out to make the assebly easy.

Layer the chicken breast fillet with prosciutto, then provolone, then red pepper and finally spinach leaves.

Get the next station ready...the olive oil, lemon juice and pepper mix and the breadcrumbs.

So I read the reviews on this recipe and a couple people mentioned salt and peppering the cutlets at this time.

So I did.

Then roll them in the brumb crumbs and lay them seam side down in the pan.

They bake quick.
About 30 minutes!

And
they come out of the oven oozing some of that smoky provolone...
yum!

Red Alert: DO NOT OVERCOOK THESE!
Disclaimer: Spoken by experience.

Tim's comments on this stuffed chicken breast were,
(and I'm quoting)

"Tasted like a cheese thing, crispy provolone, crispy part."

Then he just kept eating.

The sweetness of the red pepper, the smokiness of the provolone and the combo prosciutto and spinach really gave this dish a wonderful flavor.
That is why I have made it several times over the last couple months.
And the lemon juice-olive oil mix was brilliant!

Now here's the thing...the recipe calls for eight cutlets.
Both Tim and I ate two rollups each for dinner.
Coupled with a nice salad though, maybe one cutlet would fill a person up,
but Ima think two per adult person is more the norm.

Okay, I know it's winter but since I haven't
posted for a while,
I just wanted to share one of my favorite moments
from this fall.

Our neighbor about a mile away (as a crow flies)
farms the ground to the west of us.

Tim and I always look forward to seeing this neighbor and his son who farms with him.
We don't see them much throughout the regular year.

Fall is always a beautiful time of year here,
the days are getting shorter...

It's still often mighty warm but the smells and textures and sights and sounds let you know, this too will change.

This day was an especially warm, beautiful day in October when I heard the familiar roar of the combine.

Tim must have heard it too, cause he left his work (he still has his work gloves on) and I left my work, and at the same time and we ran over to greet our friends.

Lots of catching up to do in a short amount of time.

We think the world of this family,
rural Iowa at it's best.

The dad got out of his tractor too,
and started walking up.

And right about that same time, a van pulls in the driveway.

And all these awesome kids start piling out of the van,

running

running

running

shouting

"GRANDPA, GRANDPA, HI GRANDPA!!!"

One of THE cutest things I've ever seen.

The love and joy these kids have for their Grandpa exemplifies so many families....rural, urban, suburban.

So basically that is all I wanted to share,
this somewhat typical moment in time,
that took place in the middle of a cornfield
on a warm fall day.
Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, just pretty cool.

I'll end with this quote,

it makes me smile,

and is so, so, on target:

What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change, and they give me a million dollars’ worth of pleasure.
~Gene Perret

Okay, that's all I have for today!

Have a great week y'all!!
Thanks for checking in!!
I appreciate it!!
Talk at ya soon!!

Hwy 1 Scenes On My Drive Home

10/15/2016

Tuesday this week
Was a most glorious, perfect weather day in Iowa.

Most every day requires a trip into Iowa City on Hwy 1. Some days I'm getting titles, sometimes a part, maybe making a deposit,
or more than likely, buying butter.

Whyyyy am I always running out of butter, milk and brown sugar???
And ketchup. Do you tip ketchup bottles upside down, like me, to get those last 3 Tbsps out because you're too cheap just to buy another bottle?

Anyway, I took pictures of all the stuff I love to look at every single ding dong day, driving back from Iowa City.

Each day I admire this intriguing,
Welsh Church sign,
at the Sharon Center Rd turnoff.

After 15 years of driving by this sign,
I decided to investigate.

The church is barely a mile down the road.
I passed this cool entry to someone's long driveway on the way there.

Another driveway had these cool textural pieces.
L-o-v-e.

I came upon the Welsh Church quickly.

Breathtaking.

Look
at the
cool
old fence!

The sky was a gorgeous blue this week.

And how about that metal railing
and cement wall out front?

East side of the church.

The church bell looks like it's been there a long time and was quite functional.

Those windows!

The back parking lot.

So beautiful and peaceful.

The rectory.
In perfect four square style.

As I was leaving, there is a house across the road,
but it's hidden.

You can see an old windmill peeking above the trees.

And a gorgeous silo nestled among the setting.

Driving back to Hwy 1,
I've always loved this house's setting.

I like how this utility area becomes a pretty fall backdrop.

So we continue to move along...

There is a prairie on Hwy 1 that is just stunning...

This time I stopped and took pictures.

The textures and colors and long view scenery
are amazing.

Hello, pretty yellow native flowers!

Okay, now we come to "the flats" of Hwy 1.

Am always intrigued by the slow-moving progress
of this house.

And then we come to this piece of scenery that I am riveted to every day.

This field and this fence.

This barn!

The next place down the road is hidden
(I love the house that you can't see!) but there's a New Holland combine sitting out in the field today.

And this is one of the most picturesque places
in all of Johnson County! Right here on Hwy 1!
The views from this place are spectacular, just spectacular.

It's part of the Rug Cottage and Barntiques Antique Mall. One thousand percent gorgeous!

Across the road from Rug Cottage, these folks always have fun seasonal decorations
adorning their gazebo.

They have several cute settings, in fact.

Now how ca-ute is this!!! Those bearsies!

A mile down the road, I always see this sign in the fall...

I've gotten pumpkins at Kyle's Pumpkins before but today I am taken by this scene up on a hillside to the east.

As I move south on Hwy 1,
I admire this cottage style, mint green house.

And this GORGEOUS red door...also look at that cute fall scene on the front porch!

This house has the absolute cutest
Christmas lights up every year.
These are customer friends of ours, and they know I covet their house so bad!

My last star gazing spot on Hwy 1 before Frytown is Sister's Garden.

Oh my gosh, I love this place so much!

Cute, cute, cute! Some day when I have time, I will share all the pics I have taken of Sister's Seasonal Open Houses!

Okay, so after I got back to the shop,
I shared with Tim that the day was such a perfect,
beautiful Iowa fall day,
and that I had the best time taking pics of all the wonderful things
on my drive home.

And then my final fall picture became this one...

Tim at the shop.

All we're missing is just a pumpkin or mum...or pumpkin muffins!!

Well, that's all I have for today, friends!!
Thanks for checking in!
Will be posting again soon!
Have a beautiful weekend, weather should be pretty close to perfect!!
Talk to y'all soon!!

Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins and a Gorgeous Iowa Harvest...AmIRight??!!!

10/10/2016

Fall

in love with Iowa views.

Fall
in love with pumpkin inspired baked goods.

Fall
for cool crisp afternoon air.

Fall
for Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins.

Here's the fixins for these
SUPER EASY, completely delicious
Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins.

This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour website.
Just click HERE to go right to the recipe and print off.
I love their products!

Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins
Straight outta www.kingarthurflour.com
25 mins. to 35 mins.BAKE
18 mins. to 20 mins.
TOTAL
33 mins. to 55 mins.
YIELD
12 to 16 muffins

Topping

1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed), light or dark
1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats (not instant)
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, at firm room temperature

Filling

1 cup (8-ounce package) cream cheese, at room temperature; low-fat is fine
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or a few drops Fiori di Sicilia flavoring, optional

Muffins

1 cup pumpkin purée (about half a standard 15-ounce can)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup boiled cider (for best flavor), dark corn syrup, or honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice; or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves + 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with muffin papers, and grease the papers.
To make the streusel: Whisk together the flour, sugar, oats, and salt. Work in the butter, mixing until coarse crumbs form. Set the topping aside.
To make the filling: Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature. If it's not, place it in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat on low power for 40 seconds, just to soften it. Stir in the sugar and vanilla or Fiori di Sicilia, if using.
To make the batter: Whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, oil, boiled cider, salt, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and milk. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Add the flour and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat briefly to incorporate the scrapings.
Drop a scant 2 tablespoons of the batter (a heaping tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) into each muffin cup, spreading it to cover the bottom. Dollop on a heaping tablespoon of filling, then cover with another 2 tablespoons of batter.
Sprinkle each muffin with some of the streusel topping.
Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted towards the edge (not into the filling) comes out crumb-free.
Remove the muffins from the oven. As soon as they're cool enough to safely handle, transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Enjoy fresh-baked muffins within 2 to 3 hours; refrigerate up to 3 days for longer storage. Freeze, well-wrapped, up to 3 weeks. Rewarm cold muffins in a preheated 350°F oven, tented with foil. Or heat briefly in a microwave set at low power.

So this is the flour
that I used.

White Whole Wheat Flour.

You can find King Arthur brand at grocery stores in the organic department or at your local organic store.

You can not believe how EASY PEASY
these muffins are!
AND I HATE baking!!!
But this was EASY!!!!

I used regular oatmeal but chopped it up smaller so that the streusel wouldn't be so chunky.

The streusel begins with oats, the sugars and salt.

Work the butter in.

I really tried to use a spoon to work the butter in,
but I failed.

Yup,
hands it was.

Worked like a charm!

This here

are the ingredients for that

yummy
cream cheese filling.

And yes, this here is the best way to mix it up.

Again.

Now let's get to the ingredients of
the muffins.
Pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, honey,
the spice and milk.

Stir the flour in.

Once the muffin mix is all stirred up, set everything out.
Be sure to spray the muffin liners.

I used one of those watermelon scoop things.

No mess man,
it was awesome!

Okay,

so fill each liner not quite half full.

Dollop that delish cream cheese filling on.

Then top the cream cheese dollop

with 2 more Tbsp. of filling.

By the way, this recipe makes 24 muffins.

Sprinkle with streusel and pop in the oven
18-20 minutes.

The kitchen starts to smell heavenly...

Now bring these babies out...

Ahhhhhhh.

Yes!

I could not wait
for these to cool down so I could try one!

Here goes...

And yup! It was as delicious as it looks!!

The crunchy streusel,
the spiced pumpkiny muffin,
and that delicious cream cheese filling...

The presentation is impressive and the flavor is
warm and comforting.

Again, just click HERE to go to the recipe on the King Arthur Flour website and print out!

Okay guys,
hope someone makes these
Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins and impresses a friend or family member or neighbor!

Now in closing, just a couple more Iowa Fall scenes...

I think Tim is rockin' out to some AC/DC here.

The neighbor's cattle on a gorgeous
Fall day were curious about the
crazy lady with a camera.

Would a Fall in Iowa be complete without cutie-patootie kids playing sports?

Work comes to a standstill for supper on crisp Fall evenings.

Grandchildren play with tractors and wagons full of corn on the weekends.

And then leave the toys at the front door when they go home at the end of the evening with
mommy and daddy.

And lastly, Fall in Iowa is this gorgeous 60 year old rose bush that was transplanted two months ago and decided to grace our October
with a stunning bloom.

Okay y'all,
thanks SO MUCH for checking in!!
I appreciate it!!!
Have a great week!
Enjoy the beautiful weather!!
We'll talk at ya soon!!

A Vegetarian Pot Pie with Leeks and Fennel and a Quick Look At My Outdoor Fall Decor That Looks Ummmm, Not Really Pulled Together. I'm a Casual Girl.

9/25/2016

Fall is here!
Look at this hearty,
warm, filling,
scrumptious
Vegetarian Pot Pie!

Now look at this pumpkin in my yard!!

Dudes. I was so excited I had a closeup picture of a pumpkin to post!
Then I posted it here and I see there's a spider.
Next to my perfect pumpkin.

Coincidentally, I see there's black on these 8 ramekins filled with an
exquisite mixture of vegetables
and topped with puff pastry.
But the black is just pepper. Phew! Not spiders.

We'll get to these rustic pot pies in a minute, let's keep on with the spider and pumpkin talk, shall we?

Here's a tri colored mum and a
praying mantis. On my porch.

Here's my porch,
whereas I dropped my shopping bags to run inside and grab my camera to take a picture of the praying mantis.

And here is the porch
without me cropping out the blue coolers and towel that have been in that exact same location for well over a week now.

I think I was obsessed with taking pictures of spider webs this day. See this web on my geranium? In a wood barrel. With a mirror and elephant sticking out.

Say hello to
Mr. Elephant,

you know you want to.

Ever hear of apple gourds?

Neither had I.

Picked these up at Stringtown for 75 cents each.

They look like apples, no?

I bought some squash
to decorate with
and then maybe eat later.

Threw some gourds in a crock on top of that beautiful plant there.

I believe the formal name of this particular plant is someoneforgottowaterme.

This style of decorating is called,

"Throw a pumpkin by some planters and call it a day."

Somebody needs to paint my garden shed.

It's amazing how one doesn't notice things until one sees a picture.

I even placed a pumpkin by this bench
by the tree.

Oh wait, that's a water pitcher. Oops.

This isn't a water pitcher.

This for sure is a pumpkin.

This is a small pumpkin
on an old wood table on my porch.

And these are gorgeous golden cornfields abundant this time of year.

Okay, let's get back to this
Vegetarian Pot Pie deliciousness.
Tim called this pot pie "phenomenal" and
said "you don't miss the meat."

This recipe is from the website
www.cookingandbeer.com

I'm definitely going to check out many of their other recipes!
Just click HERE and it will take you to their page where you can print off the recipe!

Okay, here's the fixins for this
warm, comforting, tasty
Vegetarian Pot Pie.

Cooking and Beer's Vegetarian Pot Pies
Recipe straight outta Cooking and Beer's website www.cookingandbeer.com

4 large red potatoes, skins left on, diced
salt and pepper
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 leek, white and light green only, cut into half moons
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large large fennel bulb, white only, chopped
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
4 ounces white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thin
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
5 medium-sized carrots, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk
1-2 sheets puff pastry or pie dough
flour for dusting
1 egg + 1 tablespoon water (for egg wash)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and situate an oven rack to the middle of the oven.
In a large sauce pan, place the potatoes. Fill the pot with water until it just covers the potatoes then season with salt. Place on the stove and heat on high. Bring to a boil and boil for 7-8 minutes. Drain and set aside until you are ready to use.
Meanwhile, in a large dutch oven, melt the butter and add the leek, onion, fennel and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until the veggies are soft., about 8 minutes. Whisk in the flour until all has combined, and cook or 3-4 minutes. Gently whisk in the vegetable broth and add the thyme, oregano, mushrooms, parsley, carrots, peas and cooked potatoes. Stir to combine then season again with salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream or milk and stir again to combine. Let simmer, covered, for about 20-25 minutes.
Meanwhile, flour a surface lightly, and lay out your puff pastry or pie crust. With a lightly dusted rolling pin, roll out your dough until it is very thin. Prepare your individual ramekins by ladling in your filling until it reaches 3/4 of the way up the dish. Now cut out your dough into circles with a pair of kitchen shears so that it covers the entire top of the ramekin. Press down the edges with the back side of a fork and poke a few holes on the top. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay your ramekins on a large baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes and then serve!

This is the brand of Puff Pastry that
I used,
but any brand would work.

Dudes,

these leeks and fennel were particularly HUGE!!

Okay,
we start by boiling the red potatoes...

And then we re-read the directions and see that we SHOULD HAVE
DICED the potatoes, so we burn our hands taking the potatoes out of the water and then diced them...

And THEN stuck them back in the water to bring to a boil.

Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Okay, so next prep all the vegetables and spices...

Fennel there below. Leek here.

Get
your ramekins ready...

Melt
the butter...

Throw the leeks,
onions and fennel
in
and saute.

Lookin' good, kiddos!!

Mix the flour in and stir occasionally for
four or five minutes.

Now pour that broth in...

Add in the spices, potatoes, peas (edamame), mushrooms (celery), carrots and parsley.

Things should look like they're coming together.

Pour the milk or heavy cream in.

Simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes...

Pour into ramekins...

These look delish just like this.

But we gotta get that puff pastry crust
on the top of those ramekins!

So I used a very intellectual, scientific method of figuring out the size of the pastry top I needed for the ramekins.
 I used a 60s Tupperware plastic bowl and an egg ring.

This is the mark of true brilliance right here....

Except there's more...

There was
left over
puff pastry.

I couldn't let it go to waste so I brought out my cookie cutters so I could have a cute cut-out on each crust.

For the record, this diamond cookie cutter was the smallest cookie cutter I had.

Get your egg wash ready for the top...

Throw those pastry discs on top...

Use a fork and seal down the edges and fork in some air holes.

Don't make fun of my cutouts, it's the best I could do.

I think they look like little autumn
diamond-shaped pumpkingourdleaves.

Except this one.

This one looks like the state of
Texas.

Brush your egg wash on and salt and pepper these babies up!

What are you waiting for???

Throw these in a 400 degree oven!

These are the scraps that I'm going to bake up.

One can never have too much puff pastry on a pot pie.

After 25 minutes or so, bring these delicious little pot pies up to rest.

Keep letting them rest because if you dig in too quick,
you will burn your mouth.

Because someone did that.

Someone named
Tim.

And Angie.

Now plate one of the pies up!

Nice flaky, golden brown crust....

Now let's see the filling...

Yup!!
Chocked full of carrots, red potatoes, peas (edamame in mine). The leek and fennel really are the star of this pie.
Subtle warm flavors that meld so well together.

And of course the puff pastry (or pie crust) completes
this hearty meal!
Now the second time I made this, I included the mushrooms. Deee-lish!!

Now remember if y'all want to print this recipe off,
just go to the Cooking And Beer website HERE.

Okay, so in closing, just want to show a couple things my sister brought over the other day...for no reason.
Look at the pretty flowers she got at the farmer's market!

Love the fall colors together!!

And how about this cute barn board Welcome sign
she found at the Farmers market too??!!

With a sunflower!

My favorite!

Matches this fall plant I have out on the back deck.
What is this plant called anyway, anyone know???

Finally, she picked this 1975 calendar up at a
fundraiser auction.

Hostys is a long time service station in Frytown,
just a half mile from us.

Top notch people is what Hostys is and what my sister is!

Okay gals and guys,
tis all I gots for now!
Gots is a word.
In the Pretend Word Dictionary.
Look it up. :)

I have a ton of interesting, excellent recipes and a few um, misses to share so I need to keep posting away over the next month or two!

Hope you try out this Vegetarian Pot Pie recipe.
If you do, let me know how it went for you!

Take care kiddos,
have a great weekend
and we'll talk at ya soon!!!

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Helloooooo, I'm Back!!!! Sweet Harvest Moment and A Stuffed Chicken Breast That You Will Want To Make, You're Welcome.

Hwy 1 Scenes On My Drive Home

Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins and a Gorgeous Iowa Harvest...AmIRight??!!!

Fall

in love with Iowa views.

Fall
in love with pumpkin inspired baked goods.

Fall
for cool crisp afternoon air.

Fall
for Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins.

A Vegetarian Pot Pie with Leeks and Fennel and a Quick Look At My Outdoor Fall Decor That Looks Ummmm, Not Really Pulled Together. I'm a Casual Girl.

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Archives

​Fall in love with Iowa views.

​Fall in love with pumpkin inspired baked goods.

​Fall for cool crisp afternoon air.

​​Fall for Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins.

Author

Categories

Archives

Fall

in love with Iowa views.

Fall
in love with pumpkin inspired baked goods.

Fall
for cool crisp afternoon air.

Fall
for Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins.