Hallelujah Muffins

Yesterday brought our evangelism training classes to an end. The big question of the day was, “Do you know what God’s will for your life is?” At first I was putting too much thought into it. Does He want me to write? Does He want me to cook? Does He want me to open a Bed & Breakfast? What does He want me to do? Once I stopped analyzing everything I’ve done in the past, everything I’m doing now, and everything I’d like to do in the future, the answer came to me and it was actually pretty simple. He has the same will for my life that He has for all of our lives. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” What we do with our lives isn’t as important as how we do what we do with our lives. Amen?

With that being said, here is the recipe of the day.

Hallelujah Muffins

Preheat oven to 350º

2½ cups all purpose flour
1¼ cups sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
2 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
¾ cup applesauce
½ cup vegetable oil
1Tbsp vanilla
2 cups shredded carrot
1 medium apple, peeled and diced
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup flaked coconut
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped pecans

In large bowl combine the first five ingredients. In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs, applesauce, oil and vanilla; mix well and combine with the dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened, (batter will be thick). Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups ¾ full. Bake at 350º for 20 minutes. Cool for five minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Makes 2 dozen.

© Crackerberries 2009

Pickled Eggs - Oh Those Chickens are Much Too Much

Our chickens are good little babies ... they give us more eggs than we know what to do with. We thought of putting a sign out to let people know that we sell them, but our luck, those chickens would have a mind of their own and stop laying just to spite us. We do occasionally sell to a few friends of ours, but most of the time I just try to come up with different things to do with them. Tall Cool One thinks these are A-OK!

Pickled Eggs

1 cup sugar
12 eggs boiled and peeled
1½ cups white vinegar
½ cup water
½ tsp salt
6 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp pickling spice or whole peppercorns medley
1 onion, sliced


In medium sauce pan combine vinegar, sugar, water, salt and spices; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Pour hot solution over eggs to cover. Place onion slices on top and cover tightly. Place in refrigerator for several days. Mmmm Mmmm good.


To boil: put eggs in large sauce pan and cover with cold water. If the eggs are new add ½ tsp. baking soda to aid in the peeling process.  Bring to a boil. Once the water comes to a boil, set timer for 11 minutes. Remove from heat at once and cover with cold water. It is best to peel the eggs immediately while they are still hot.
© Crackerberries 2009

Good 4 U Treat

I love granola bars. They are so expensive though. So, I decided to try making my own. They came out OK. Next time I would be sure not to use cereal with raisins during the first baking process because some of the raisins seemed to be a little “overcooked”. All in all, this is a good homemade version of a chewy granola bar.


3½ cups of granola cereal, quick cooking oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, sesame seeds, wheat germ, (*whatever crunchy ingredients you would like)1 cup coconut
1 cup raisins
½ cup honey
¼ cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
4 Tbsp margarine

Preheat oven 300º

Combine granola ingredients and coconut and spread on 9x12 baking dish. Do not add raisins at this time. Bake in 300º oven for 20 minutes, stirring once during baking time. (For crunchier granola bake an additional 5-10 minutes.) In the mean time, heat butter, brown sugar and honey in small sauce pan. Once dry ingredients come out of oven add raisins. Add vanilla to melted butter mixture and mix with granola. (I put aluminum foil down and that made it easier to take out of the pan and put on a chopping board for cutting). Press mixture into greased 8x8 pan and bake for another 20 minutes in 300º oven.
*You may add whatever ingredients you like. I contemplated Lucky Charms … do you think they would be magically delicious?
© Crackerberries 2009

Spiedini

Spiedini is an Italian word that means “skewer” or “kebab”. This would make one think of Shi-K-Bobs, right? Add zucchini, cherry tomatoes, baby portabella mushrooms, green pepper, Vidalia onions and beef or shrimp; grill it and serve it with rice. That would be a big YUM, and all good and healthy if you like all those veggies. Tall Cool One likes his meat…and to quote him “Shrimp does not pass as the meat dish.” So I found this interesting combination of Spiedini and thought, wow, let's see if this is a keeper. A little time consuming but it’s a very tasty combination.

6 slices bacon
1 large, whole, boneless, skinless chicken breast (halved lengthwise)
½ cup Dale’s marinade (you can marinate however you like)
2 large sweet Italian sausage links
3 whole large chicken livers
6 fresh basil leaves
6 large mushroom caps
2 Tbsp melted margarine or butter

In a skillet, cook bacon just until it starts to brown but do not let it get crispy; drain well. Rinse chicken breasts and cut each breast in half crosswise into thirds; marinate in ½ cup Dales for about 15 minutes. Cut the sausage into 6 pieces. Cut each chicken liver in half.

Place one of the basil leaves on each liver half. Roll each liver half in a slice of bacon, wrapped snuggly. On each of the 6 - 12 inch skewers, place a sausage, followed by a chicken breast piece, and a bacon wrapped chicken liver. Top each end with a mushroom cap. Brush kabobs with margarine.

Place Kabobs on the cooking grill (we put aluminum foil down so that the fire wouldn’t flair up and crispy fry them). Grill for about 14-22 minutes, turning a few times through the grilling time. Internal temp should be 165º for chicken and 170º for sausage.

Following the Italian tradition, Spiedini should be served with a pasta side dish but we served ours with Cole Slaw.

© Crackerberries 2009

If You Dare Marshmallow Peanutbutter Cookies

I remember one summer when I was 13, we stayed at a camp on Ripley Pond up in Maine until my mom and dad could afford to find us a house to rent where we could go to school. (Mind you this camp was just that -- no running water what-so-ever). Every payday my dad would drive the mile and a half dirt road into camp holding two Heavenly Hash ice creams on sugar cones for my sister and me. The ice cream would be melting down his hand and arm as he handed the summer treats to us. Those were the best ice cream cones EV-AAAR! For some reason this cookie experience that I had in our kitchen made me think of those ice cream cones and what my dad did for me and my sister that summer. :)

I learned a valuable lesson. If you have never heard of something in a recipe, the chances are pretty good that there is a reason for that. No one really likes to share their failures. Not that they really failed, but they definitely wouldn't win any prize for presentation. Some of them were okay, but most of them had to be formed back into a round shape after they were pried off the cookie sheet. A big clump of cookie crumb. One of those "don't judge a book by it's cover" recipes. But, like those Heavenly Hash ice cream cones, on a hot summer day, they were yummy. Here it is, if you dare:


½ cup butter flavored Crisco (add 3 tsp water to this) or margarine
½ cup crunchy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar (packed)
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla (if you use real extract, only use 1 tsp)
1 cup all purpose flour
¾ cup old fashioned rolled oats
¾ cup swirled chocolate & white morsels
1 ½ cup mini marshmallows

Beat butter and peanut butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the two sugars, baking powder and baking soda and cream together, scraping sides of bowl until combined. Add egg and vanilla and blend well. Beat in flour and oats. Add marshmallows and morsels and mix in with a wooden spoon. Preheat oven to 375º. Drop by tablespoons on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 7-9 minutes. Remove (pry... ha ha ha) from cookie sheet immediately and cool on wire racks.

© Crackerberries 2009

Chili Turkey Loaf

We are always looking for a meal that is tastey and good for you. "They" say turkey is one of the better meats you can eat. This one was really good.

1 lb ground turkey
½ cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped green pepper
¼ cup chopped zucchini
½ cup Italian bread crumbs
¼ cup chili sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 TBSP horseradish mustard
½ tsp salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
½ cup French Fried Onions
Ground pepper
Prepared salsa (if desired)

Preheat oven to 350º

Mix all ingredients except salsa and French fried onions, in large bowl. Shape into loaf in lightly greased baking dish. Cover the top and sides with the French fried onions, pressing into the loaf. Bake at 350º for 40-45 minutes or until internal temperature is 170º. Let cool about 10 minutes. Remove from baking dish and slice. Top with salsa (if desired) and serve with baked beans and Cole slaw.

© Crackerberries 2009

Thin Crust Pizza

Usually when we make pizza together I do the crust and Tall Cool One cuts up the veggies and finds anything and everything that we have leftover to go on it. For some reason, (full moon?) the crust wasn't working for me this time so Tall Cool One rolled out the dough and I did the topping search. (Let me just say, when he gets the toppings, it's way better than mine). You wanna talk about a loaded pizza... you should try one of his. NO ANCHOVIES, please.



However, once we starting eating this one, there was just something different about the crust. Like one of those thin crust pizza's you get at Pizza Hut, but way better. I found later that Tall Cool One added his own twist to the recipe. Here it is:
THIN PIZZA CRUST

2½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp garlic powder
1 pkg .(1½ tsp.) active dry yeast
¾ cup hot water (120º-103º)
1 TBSP oil

In a large bowl combine ¾ cup flour, seasoning, garlic powder and yeast. Blend well. Mix hot water and oil together and combine with flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened then mix at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add ¾ cup flour to form stiff dough.

On floured surface, kneed in ¼ - ½cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes). Place dough in greased bowl, twirling around to coat; cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80º-85º) four 30-40 minutes or until double in size.

Preheat oven to 400º. Place pizza stone in oven to preheat.

Punch dough down several times to remove all air bubbles. Roll out the dough (or toss in the air…whatever your preference) to form large pizza pie circle; this is when the trick comes in… as Tall Cool One was rolling and pressing the dough out, he added another ½ cup of flour to the dough. It is a good idea to do this on a large cutting board or other movable surface so that you can just flip it on to the pizza stone when you are ready to add the toppings.

After you have added the sauce (this is another recipe), cheeses and any other toppings, bake in oven for 18-25 minutes. Let cool about 5 minutes before cutting.
© Crackerberries 2009

Saucy Chicken Cordon Bleu

INGREDIENTS

3 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 slices Swiss cheese
6-8 slices ham (finely chopped)
2-4 tbsp butter or margarine
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp pepper
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 pint (2 cups) ½ and ½ or light cream
¼ cup hot water
½ cup of Italian bread crumbs


DIRECTIONS

Half each chicken breast lengthwise and pound to ¼ inch thickness. Sprinkle the ham with the pepper. Top each breast with a slice of cheese and equal amounts of the peppered ham. Roll up the chicken and secure with toothpicks. Use a little of the light cream to wet the chicken and then roll in the Italian bread crumbs.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tbsp of butter/margarine and brown chicken over medium heat, being sure to roll to all sides, until brown (not to high of heat or the butter will blacken--this is what the extra 2 tbsps of butter is for, just incase). In the meantime, combine the hot water and onion soup mix together first, then add cream and nutmeg. Pour mixture over chicken and bring just to boiling point. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, basting occasionally for 20-25 minutes. Serve with noodles or roasted potatoes.

© Crackerberries 2009

Secret Ingredient Hamburgers

We were in Port Royal, South Carolina visiting Mom and Richard. We stayed in this house called “The Big Pink”. Tall Cool One and I were in charge of din-din one night and we decided to make hamburgers. I told Mom it had a secret ingredient and asked her and Richard if they minded having onions. Both said they didn’t mind. When we sat down to eat, Mom had a fit because they had onions in them. Richard said, “Put some ketchup on it, Mildred.” She ended up giving the hamburger to Richard; the onions are optional.

Ingredients
1½ lb ground 85% beef
1 med onion, diced (optional)
¼ cup Italian style bread crumbs
1 egg
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup mix
¼ tsp garlic powder
4 hamburger buns
Lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mustard, relish, pickles

Directions

Combine the burger, diced onion, bread crumbs, onion soup, garlic powder and egg and mix well. Form meat into 4 good size burgers. Grill over medium heat for 8 mins per side. Serve on burger buns with whichever condiments you choose.

…or as Richard would say, “Put some ketchup on it, Mildred.”

The Scoopmire's Italian Steak

It seems Crackerberries is going in the direction of my new venture... I'm in the process of writing a cookbook as well as trying to make some money at what I love to do... cooking, canning, baking, all that jazz. I've decided to share some of my favorite recipes on my blog...(the new me is going to (try) to post a new delicious recipe each day... okay, okay, so we'll see how things go, huh? :)

The first recipe I'd like to share comes from my friend Leslie. I made this and it was (in true Maine form) "WICKED GOOD"!!!! I did make a couple alterations from her recipe... I didn't exactly know what "round steak" was. Tall Cool One and I were grocery shopping and I asked him, "What's a round steak?" He looked at me funny. I said, "They all look round to me."

We ended up with a chuck roast and cut it up in cubes and marinated it in Robusto Italian dressing for ½ hour prior to cooking. Instead of the EVOO, I cooked it right in the Italian dressing. Also 1½ tsp. of pepper was plenty spicy enough for our taste buds. We had it over spaghetti instead of rice and we added a little mozarella cheese as well as the parmesan. It was a definite keeper so that is why I'm sharing it with you. Here it is served with bread sticks on the side:

Italian Steak
1 round steak, cubed
1 onion, diced
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1-2½ tsp black pepper
1½ cups beef broth
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
4 zucchini squash, sliced
Parmesan Cheese
Cooked white rice

Brown steak in EVOO {Extra Virgin Olive Oil}; add onion and garlic; cook until onions are translucent. Add beef broth and remaining seasonings. Bring to a boil and add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Once mixture comes to a boil again, add zucchini, turn heat to low, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Serve over hot cooked rice and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
© Crackerberries 2009

No Fair!

April 30, 2009

I keep telling myself that I'm going to write I'm going to write I'm going to write. That's what I want to do ... write, write, write. Unfortunately my plan and what God has planned doesn't appear to be the same plot. Everytime I get to a point where I can say, "Okay, I'm gonna sit down and write today," something else comes up and gets in front of my writing.

Spring Cleaning

There are 5 gigantic totes out on the porch waiting for me to go through. They are filled with clothes ... both summer and winter. The plan was to only have summer clothes in storage and winter clothes in the closet. Then in the spring, the winter clothes go into storage and the summer clothes go into the closet. Some where along the line, I accumulated more winter clothes than will fit in the closet ... I tell Tall Cool One that I'll rotate the stock and wear the ones in storage the next year. For some reason it just hasn't seemed to work out that way. So my project at hand is to get rid of the clothes I don't wear. I mean seriously, I bet I have 35 pairs of jeans ... okay so some are two sizes too small (I keep telling myself I am going to wear them again), some are two sizes too big (Lord, please don't let me need those again), some I just don't like how they fit (but they're nice jeans to wear out ... you know we go out so often). And here I am writing instead of sorting.



Which brings me to my thoughts. Boy, am I easily side tracked! An understatement at least! I was reading one of Ray Comfort's Gospel tracts about "Depraved Indifference". Depraved indifference focuses on the risk created by the defendant’s conduct, not the injuries actually resulting. Meaning, me, as a Christian will be punished for not sharing what I know about heaven and hell. It is my responsibility to go therefore and make disciples of all the nations ... to share what I know. Depraved Indifference has nothing to do with the fact that if you choose to continue to live in your sin and do not accept Jesus Christ into your life that you will spend eternity in hell. You have heard about hell, yes? Hell is an endless lake of fire, with billions of people screaming because of the horrendous pain they are suffering. It is where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth and there is no rest day or night.



Whew, see what I mean about getting side tracked. Wow, hell sure isn't a place I want to visit. Life is short, eternity isn't. I don't even want to get close to it ... so listen to me when I tell you. Choose Jesus over sin!



Back to my original thought on spring cleaning. Just like cleaning our closets, bureaus, drawers, cupboards, etc., sometimes our minds need a cleansing too. I've been thinking about people I used to be close too and how the relationships became strained or distant or plain old non-existent. I kept thinking that part of what God's Word says wasn't meant for me. I kept telling myself my relationships with people would be different. It isn't. Time to spring clean my mind ... out with the old in with the new. God cannot lie, not any part of His Word is untrue. We can't just pick and choose the parts that we like ... it is all or nothing. I have decided to let go of the relationships I have struggled with to keep going. It's not in my hands anymore. Sometimes we have to let go of the things we are closest to, be it a cool pair of jeans or an old friend.

Everyday Things

I have been working on a blog all week. It's pretty intense and my "WOM" teacher suggested that perhaps I am a "rabbit chaser". Unfortunately, I have to agree. I have a really hard time staying focused. Anyways, I decided to take a break from that project and write this.

Everyday things....

• Everyday my mother calls and tells me about how buried she is at work and how she is never going to get caught up. I remind her that her in-box will never be empty and she should look at it as job security. I am thankful that my mom is still around to call me up and complain about her job.

• Everyday I sign on line via dial up and complain to my dog about how slow it is and "it's taking forever". Then I realize how lucky I am to have a computer and dial up. Kind of hard to write a blog without it.

• Everyday my sister doesn't respond to my emails, phone calls or letters I think about how old she is getting by holding a grudge (it takes more out of an angry person than it does a happy person). As much as I don't want to sometimes, I keep the line of communication open by continuing to email and write letters, and pray that one day she will talk to me again (in a nice way).

• Everyday I miss my kids and imagine how things would be if they lived closer. Then I realize if they lived closer I probably wouldn't miss them as much and am satisfied with being able to talk to them on the phone and email them.

• Everyday I write a note of encouragement for Tall Cool One's lunch box and sometimes I can't think of anything to write. Then I realize how special he is because God created him for me and me for him and a simple "I love you" means everything. We should never take our soul mate for granted, ever. When God puts two people together, we should never miss an opportunity to let that person know how thankful we are for them.

• Everyday I wake up to the crowing of our rooster and some mornings I want to drive his crowing neck into a bail of hay and make him shut up. Then I think, he is so happy to have another morning. It might not sound good to me at 4AM, but to God, it is one of His creation's song of praise. I can't sing, but I try to when we have worship time Sunday morning and Wednesday evening because God wants to hear us praise Him whether we can sing or not (perhaps He will tell me different when I get to heaven).

• Everyday I read my Bible and some days I don't understand what I'm reading, but then later something will happen, and what I read will be revealed to me. God's word will never return void. It's amazing.

• Everyday there will always be something that you can look at in a negative way. It only takes a second to turn that perspective around. Ultimately the good will triumph over evil in the end.