Spicy Plum BBQ Sauce - CANNED!!

You would NEVER know that this was made using PLUMS!!

 My neighbors have a wonderful Italian Plum tree in their front yard. They never use the plums and offered me as many as I wanted in trade for canned goodies. Add more pepper flakes to add more heat to this recipe but wait till after you puree everything and have it heated to temp. It has plenty of heat.

 12 cups pitted plums halved
2 large red onion chopped
4 Anaheim peppers seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
½ cup chopped garlic
 2 cups of honey
¼ cup white sugar
1 ½ cup apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of hot pepper flakes
2 tablespoons of dry mustard
4 tablespoons Cumin
2 tablespoons of canning salt

 Put all ingredients into a large non aluminum stock pot. I use a hand held blender and blend it smooth while its in the pot. Simmer for 3-4 hours. You want it to thicken up to the constancy of BBQ sauce. Ladle into ½ pint jars. Process in water bath for 45 min.

White Bean Spinach Sausage Soup

White Bean Spinach Sausage Soup

I made this wonderful soup last night and I have to give credit to The Nourishing Gourmet for the base recipe. I was given about 20 lbs of white beans and a few large boxes of spinach. (Anyone who knows me knows my theory on food. If it wasn't food 100 years ago you probably shouldn't eat it today.) Anyway, I made my beans in one of those counter top electric pressure cookers. I picked mine up second hand for $40 because ... well, I just roll that way.

I made a HUGE Pot of white beans (about 6 cups dry beans) adding in 8 minced garlic cloves a few bay leaves, about 1/4 cup of olive oil and a dash of pepper. I was sure to add an extra few cups of water to my beans because this is a soup and I wanted that flavorful water for it. The beans took about 45 min in the pressure cooker. After the cooker was in its cool down mode, I took some turkey breakfast sausage that I had and browned it in a stock pot (make sure its large enough to finish the soup off in). Of course I didn't have tomato paste but I had some sauce that I had canned last summer (1/2 pint) so I tossed that in the pan and cooked it down to the consistency of  paste keeping the sausage in with it. I wanted more of a flavor and am not a huge fan of oregano so I added about 15 fresh basil leaves. Then I dumped in the hot beans from the pressure cooker and stirred it slowly until all the browned bits of meat and tomato work their way off the bottom of the pan. It was a little thick for me so I added about 2 cups of chicken stock and about a tablespoon of salt. Yes I used sea salt. I brought it to a simmer and turned off the heat. Then added about 8 cups of fresh spinach leaves and stirred them in until they got that wilted look. My husband who usually HATES soup loved this! You could really use any type of sausage. I just used what I had on hand. The next day this is thicker so you will want to add some more chicken stock or water to thin it out. 

Cedar Sided Amish Style CHICKEN COOPS!!!

This is my husbands 2nd year building chicken coops! 

Easy Moist Applesauce Cake with Caramel Apple Drizzle

2 cups flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp ground clove

1/8 cup milk

1 tbsp vanilla

1 cup applesauce

½ cup soft butter

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

(if you want you can add raisins or nuts but my family wont eat the cake if I do)

I start at the top of the ingredient list and add everything to my Kitchenaid's bowl. I

 mix until smooth. I use 2 - 8” rounds. You can however use a bunt pan, muffin pan

 bread pan etc. I just like the caramel sauce in between the layers :)

Bake until a knife pulls out clean about 20-25 min at 350

for the caramel sauce:

Since I used canned applesauce (that is just what I had in the pantry) I had some

 left in the can. I used 15 caramel squares and about 1/8 cup of applesauce tossed

 them in a microwavable bowl and microwaved for about 4 min stopping every min 

to stir until smooth. Use ½ the sauce between the layers and the other half on the 

top. SOOOO GOOD!

Wall Basket Hanger / Shelf / Organizer DIY EASY!

I have had this massive drive to organize the last week. So I decided take advantage of that pregnancy

nesting urge to clean out cupboards and organize closets and embrace it while it lasts! My 3 year old

and the new arrival will be sharing a very small room. I have been worried about the clutter, so I put

my thinking cap on and took note of the building materials that I had around the house and this is what

I came up with:

When I was at the dollar store I saw some great colorful plastic baskets. I immediately got an idea for

wall storage! I purchased 8 baskets in rotating colors and sizes. I remembered that we had some left

over very nice 1” thick ceder fence pickets left over from a job that my hubby had recently done. So I

grabbed 2 of the pickets the baskets a box of 3/4” wood screws and some washers (I found them

floating around in the bottom of the tool box that fit the heads of the screws) and a random can of ½

full wood stain that I had.

I took the fence picket and cut off the end that had the dog ear with a skill saw. I then I got out the

sander and sanded the corners of each end so they wouldn't splinter. I stained the side that was NOT

ruff as well as all 4 edges but I didn't feel that the back needed stained since it would not been seen

once it was hung. After the board dried (it was a sunny day so it took about 30 min for it to dry) I

placed the baskets in front of it and organized how I wanted the lay out to look. I put two screws near

the top of each basket with washers around them so they wouldn't rip out as easily over time. WALA!

EASY! Mounted it to the wall and filled with those pesky stuffed animals that build up!

I repeated this but cut the picket shorter to hang over the babies crib.


Total out of pocket cost (for both hangers) was the $8 for the baskets, everything else I had here at home

Orange-and-Ricotta Pound Cake

I found this recipe online and modified it. The original recipe called for orange zest and a liquor, stuff that often I just don't have on hand unless I make a special shopping trip (my kiddos are not big citrus fans) we do however always have frozen OJ on hand and a small arsenal of baking extracts. The recipe turned out amazing! Its soft, moist, fluffy and OH so YUMMY!

3/4 cup soft unsalted butter 

1 1/2 cups flour 

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ cup frozen Orange Juice

2 Teaspoons almond extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease pans a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan or a few smaller pans. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to blend.

2. Using a mixer, cream the butter, ricotta and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla, orange and almond extract until combined. Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 45 to 50 minutes or about 35 minutes for mini pans. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Italian Pizzelles

Italian Pizzelles Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon anise seeds

In my kitchen aid I added added everything and mixed until smooth then put a tablespoon on each section of the Pizzelle maker. You can roll them lay them flat etc. They harden fast so if you plan on shaping them you best hurry. They taste like a vanilla wafer or a waffle cone. Fast pretty and easy to make if you have the iron of course :) 

These are great paired with ice cream. You can even roll them in cone shape and have an ice cream cone

 

EASY Scalloped Potatoes and Onions

This is such a simple recipe. Most if not everything is stuff that you would find in any pantry. Plus the recipe is so tasty! 

5 Large Potatoes sliced thin

1 small onion chopped

3 tablespoons butter

¼ cup flour

3 bullion cubes

1 ½ cup water

1 Tablespoon parsley (or any green fragrant spice that compliments your main dish)

1/3 cup Mayonnaise (I always use the olive oil mayo)

½ teaspoon paprika

Layer potatoes and onions in a large greased casserole dish.

Dissolve the bullion cubes in the water.

In a medium saucepan melt butter and stir in flour until smooth and frothy (like you would when your making a gravy). Gradually add the broth and the mayo until smooth and frothy. Add the parsley and the paprika, mix them in.

Pour gravy mixture over the potatoes.

Bake at 350 for one hour.  

Night before Peaches and Cream Baked French Toast

This is a dish you need to make the night before. Its wonderful for brunch. The taste is AMAZING and the smell that wafts through the house is to die for. It has this wonderful peaches and cream flavor but not sugary. We made this for Christmas morning breakfast and will  make it again and AGAIN!

2 cans of sliced peaches packed in light syrup

1 loaf of french bread sliced into about 1” slices

2 cups milk

¼ cup white standard sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

½ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup heavy cream

spray a 9”x 13” baking dish with pan spray and arrange bread in a tight layer in the dish. If they overlap a little it works fine.

Mix eggs with milk, white standard sugar and vanilla until WELL blended.

Pour mixture over the bread and then arrange the preaches on the top evenly. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Cover the dish and refrigerate over night or at least 8 hours.

Be sure to bring dish to room temperature before baking, 30 – 45 min sitting on the counter. Preheat oven to 350. While the dish is coming to temperature. Pour the cream into a small pan and bring to a boil, then cook until reduced by half. It will be thick. Drizzle over the dish and bake uncovered until lightly browned on top and cooked through about an hour. Let stand for 10 min before serving (as it is still cooking in the 10 min that its out of the oven)

Ooey Gooey Pull Apart Danish Rolls

I modified an online recipe to fit what I had in the pantry and it turned out amazing! This is the link to the original recipe 

http://shopgirlmaria.blogspot.ca/2012/09/raspberry-swirl-rolls.html 

The following is how I made the rolls 

Dough

1 1/4 cup milk

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons active dry yeast

1 stick butter, softened

2 large eggs

1/4 tsp salt

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Make sure the milk is lukewarm. Pour it into your mixer bowl, and add the sugar and yeast. Flip the mixer on for a few seconds, then let sit until the mixture is frothy, usually a few minutes. Turn the mixer on low, add in the softened butter, eggs and salt. Add the flower slowly until a soft dough forms (if the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour). Using the dough hook attachment, beat the dough on medium-high speed for about 8-10 minutes. Cover and let sit in a warm place for about 1 to 2 hours, until it doubles in size.

Filling

I cheated on my filling :) I used a can of cherry pie filling and it turned out AMAZING! You could use what ever canned pie filling you prefer for this recipe. It was the perfect amount of filler and just the right amount of sweet ooey gooey goodness for this recipe.

Glaze / Icing

You can either make your own glaze with the following recipe:

3 cups confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons milk

stir together sugar and milk until smooth

Or you can use about a ½ container of white or cream cheese pre-made store bought cake frosting. I heat it up in the microwave until its warm and smooth but NOT hot and bubbly.

Directions

Roll out your dough on a flowered surface until it forms a very large rectangle. Spread the filling over over it and roll up until it resembles a jelly roll. Just like you would if you where making cinnamon rolls. I like to cut them thinner into about 14-16 thin slices and place them in something about twice the size of a cake pan, make sure it has been greased well – a cookie sheet with nice tall sides or a large Pyrex dish would work well.

Let rise about 1 hour

Bake at 425 until nice and golden – about 25-30 min.

let the rolls cool till warm and and drizzle glaze over the top of warm (not hot) rolls.