Pesto

I love pesto so it's a good thing I grow my own basil almost every year. I used to think about selling pesto, but I'm not sure everyone loves it as much as I do. Also, if I sold it I couldn't squirrel it away and give it away like I do.

Original recipes for basil pesto use pine nuts. I've never made it with anything except pecans.

Pesto is good in pasta, chicken, pasta salad, soups, potatoes, pizza.... It can be brushed on bread and toasted a little in the oven. It can be put in calzones and brushed on top. You can add sun dried tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes when you use it in whatever you're cooking. You can throw a lump into your spaghetti sauce for a quick boost of flavor. It can be overdone, so be careful of turning everything green or using too much.

You can process it very finely into a paste, or make it a little coarse. You can use more or less spinach, or none at all. More or less garlic to taste also. Once you've made it and tasted it on your noodles you can decide how strong to make it next time. Of course fresh basil is best, but people also make it with dried basil and fresh spinach. If you freeze pesto you can leave out the cheese if you want, adding it to your dish later. Some people say the cheese doesn't freeze very well.

Pesto!

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, firmly packed (no branches)
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach
• ½ cup Parmesan or Romano cheese (the better the quality, the better the taste)
• ½ cup pecans
• 4 cloves garlic
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ fruit fresh or lemon juice (optional. Just keeps it brighter green)
• ½ cup olive oil

Pack your measuring cup with the basil, but this isn't an exact science.

Place all ingredients except the oil into a food processor and pulse until you make a paste. This will take quite a few pulses, scraping down the sides each time if you want a smoother paste. You can make it the old fashioned way, chopping and smashing by hand if you like. I'll be eating mine on hot pasta with my feet up
while you're still looking for a big sharp knife!
Once it's to your desired consistency start adding the oil slowly as the machine runs.
Smell that heavenly smell!

Once it's processed I keep some in a jar in the fridge and freeze the rest in doubled sandwich baggies which are then placed into a quart size freezer bag. I turn a baggie inside out on my hand and squish it in there. I know, it looks weird, but it's green gold!
(originally posted in July 2009)

Calzone or Pizza Dough

  This dough is best made early in the day, or the day before you'll want to use it. You can leave it on the counter and cover it, punching it down if it starts trying to overflow, but it's best placed in the fridge and aged. 

Calzones fresh from the oven.

Yummy Pizza

Calzone or Pizza Dough

This recipe makes 2 large or 4 smaller calzones.

Mix it in your bread machine on the "dough" setting or stand mixer with dough hooks.

• 1 1/4 c. Warm Water
• 2 tsp. Honey or Sugar
• 1 1/2 Tab. Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 2 1/2 c. All-Purpose Unbleached Flour
• 1 c. Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. Yeast

Combine everything in the bread mixer bowl in the above order. As it mixes, add a tiny amount of flour, if needed, to make a tacky, but not super sticky dough. Let the bread machine finish the mixing stage, or until it is mixed well in the mixer bowl. You may leave it in the bread machine to finish the cycle, but I usually make 2 batches, so I dump it into an empty 4 qt. ice cream container. Oil the dough and flip it over. Place the lid on, or cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for a few hours, or up to 3 days before you use it. You can use it quicker, I have done that, but it's much better after it's left to sit. "Burp" the cover if it bulges.

Making Calzones

You can put anything in a calzone that you normally like on pizza, but the ingredients for my calzones are:

• Ricotta cheese, sometimes thinned with a little milk or buttermilk
• Mozzarella cheese
• Romano and/or Parmesan cheese
• Swiss cheese slices
• Pepperoni
• Oregano
• Pesto (I make my own) or Spaghetti sauce is used in a few, but mostly just the above cheeses and pepperoni.

   

Divide the dough into 2 or 4 balls and let them rest on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes.

Use a rolling pin to roll the balls into circles.

On one half of the circle, or as near to a circle as you got, 

spread the ricotta

 Really pile up the other ingredients, alternating layers 

of pepperoni & different cheeses. 

Sprinkle with oregano.

Oil a pan & sprinkle it with corn meal.

Fold over, pinch closed, drizzle with olive oil

Sprinkle with garlic salt & oregano. Bake at 400° 

15-20 minutes or until lightly browned

Fresh Salsa!!

Fresh Salsa is super easy to make. No need to can it unless you have a bunch that you can't eat right away. 

The basic stuff of salsa is: Tomatoes, onions, garlic, lime or lemon juice, cilantro & salt. If you start with these you can't mess up. Cilantro has a strong, distinctive flavor that some people don't care for. If you don't, use some cumin or chilli powder.

Here is how I usually make salsa

In a food processor chop all your veggies & herbs. 

Keep pouring it all together into a bowl as you work. 

Stir it well and taste it on a chip. Eat about three big bites before you decide to add anything. 

As it sits in the fridge the flavors will blend and it might get a little more spicy. 

Eat it with chips, add it to guacamole, put it on salad...YUM!

• Tomatoes, Roma are best. Squeezing out the juice and seeds to eliminate liquid
• Hot peppers of your choice. Removing some of the seeds will cool it down. Wear gloves when handling the hot peppers! Unless you want your kids to see you crying and holding your hands in ice water the rest of the day.
• Bell or other sweet peppers
• Onion/green onion
• Garlic
• Cilantro
• Cumin, and/or little chili powder
• Fresh oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary (if you want)
• Salt ( sea salt preferred)
• Vinegar
• Lime or Lemon juice

This post is about uncooked fresh salsa.The link to canning salsa is here: Tar Tar's Salsa

Veggie Sculpture for Kids

Veggie Sculpture is great fun. I have to give an uncle credit for teaching me the basics when I was a bored little girl. He was my momma's brother. They and their siblings, grew up in the days of make-your-own toys, and boy did they know how to do that! Some of that ingenuity was passed down from Grandfather Vinson who made fences for his children's tiny bottle "animals" with large nails to form the fence posts and wire twisted around the nails to make the fence.

If you have a garden this summer, or produce going too big or dry (not rotten) you already have the makings for cute creativity. Above are my tiny eggplant people. They just started to appear while I was peeling little finger eggplant. Clove and fennel seed features.
 Since my grand kids don't live near I am doing a couple of crafty critters for them and their mommy can help them do their own.

 Gather produce such as: squash (the crooked-neck squashes make great animals), cucumbers, beans, eggplant. Supplies such as: sticks for legs & arms, pine needles, leaves, flowers, toothpicks to hold the vegetable parts together. Pruning shears to cut sticks, seeds like fennel, whole cloves.... you get the idea!

Test out how you want the pieces to go together. 

Little ones will need help with shears and the sharp toothpicks.

Cuke Creatures!

Homemade Electrolyte Drinks

Make Your Own Gatorade Type Drink or Flavored Water

First - What are electrolytes?

Electrolytes are substances that become ions in solution and can conduct electricity. A balance of minerals/electrolytes in our bodies is essential for normal function of our cells and organs.When we are sweating in this hot weather we are losing essential minerals/electrolytes. For our purposes we are mainly concerned with potassium and chloride replacement. 

Potassium is a positive ion found inside our cells and is needed for normal cell function. A couple of important functions are regulation of the heartbeat and muscle function. Orange juice is high in potassium. An 8 oz. glass has 450 mg. That's 10X the potassium that a quart of Gatorade has! 75 mg are in 1/4 c. of lemon juice which is almost twice what Gatorade has.

Chloride is a negatively charged ion found in the fluid outside of cells and in the blood. Chloride plays a role in helping the body maintain a normal balance of fluids. Table salt or sea salt is mainly sodium chloride with other trace minerals.

If you drink water and eat a salty snack and a piece of fruit to replace what you've lost that is great, but don't drink quarts and quarts of water and not snack. You can become the victim of water intoxication. It sounds funny, but trust me, it's not. That puts a whammy on your body's cells because of salt dilution. Theoretically, cells could swell to the point of bursting. Tissue swelling can cause an irregular heartbeat and allow fluid to enter the lungs. Swelling of brain tissues can cause seizures, coma and ultimately death unless water intake is restricted and a hypertonic saline solution is administered. I am pretty sure that's where I was headed one summer. I was drinking lots of water too quickly and not eating.

Good, old-fashioned lemon juice contains high amounts of vitamin C, the B vitamins, A, vitamin E, retinol, folate and folic acid. Minerals that are found in lemon juice include calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper, zinc, manganese and selenium. Most of the essential minerals that are required by the human body are present in lemon juice. Cool! Oranges, limes , pineapples, grapes & coconut water likewise have good stuff we need like the all important potassium.

Now that you've had your health lesson, on to making our drinks! Pick your juice or juice combo. You can make Salty Lemonade, Grape, Orange, Lime, or a combination of these.

You'll need:

• Sea Salt
• Sugar, Honey or Stevia
• Juice or fruit to get the juice- Such as: Lemon, Lime, Orange, Pineapple, Grape...
• Coconut water is another possible ingredient 
• Sports jugs, or quart jars

I think the favorite has become the Salty Lemonade. You can substitute stevia for the honey or sugar, but just remember that cuts down on the carbs also. With a sweeter juice you may or may not want as much sugar or honey.



You may want to warm up your juice to get the sugar & salt dissolved.

Add concentrated orange juice to grape or lime if you want. Taste it after adding the salt. You may decide to add more of something at this point even though it's concentrated. Add water and ice to top off your quart jar or bottle. Taste again, remembering it's supposed to be like a flavored water, not full-strength juice.

Apricot Zucchini Bread & Muffins

Made With Fresh Apricots, Zucchini Squash & Coconut this is going to be my favorite quick bread! 

I adore apricots and coconut. The combination is something wonderful! I had frozen apricots & tons of squash this morning so I experimented with my zucchini quick bread recipe and found something heavenly! Moist, beautiful apricotiness. Shhhh! Don't tell the silly people that it has squash. They will never know as fast as it disappears down the hatch!           

½ cup Coconut oil
1 cup Raw Sugar
2 Eggs
1 cup Apricots fresh or frozen, cut up and smashed, (NOT DRIED)
2 cups Zucchini, shredded
1 cup Coconut (moist, Baker's brand)
2 tsp Vanilla
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Baking Powder
1½ tsp Baking Soda
3 cups Flour (can use part whole wheat)
2 tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 325°F. In a mixing bowl stir together oil and sugar. Beat in the eggs, apricots, zucchini, coconut and vanilla, mixing well. 

Fold in dry ingredients just until blended.
Pour into greased loaf pans, or muffin tins. 
Bake for about 30 minutes for the loaves. Don't overcook!
You can toothpick test off center. A toothpick coming out relatively clean is a loaf done enough. Springs back when you gently touch center? That's good also. This is so scrumptious I could make myself sick eating it.

Apricot Zucchini Bread



1 stick butter
1 cup raw honey
2 eggs
¾ cup fresh apricots, cut up and smashed
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1½ tsp baking soda
3 cups fresh-ground sprouted whole wheat flour
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
A pinch of cardamom


Pre-heat oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl cream the butter and honey until creamy. Beat eggs in one at a time then continue beating for 1 minute. Add the apricots, zucchini and vanilla. Mix well. Fold in dry ingredients just until blended. Do not over mix.
Pour into 2 greased bread pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Dear Sweet Peas: Tinkerbell

I know that you, Little Sweet Pea, are obsessed with all things Tinkerbell & Pan. I only encourage you in that wondrous imagination of yours by sending you fairy wings, and a teeny Tinker in her lantern. You're only little once, and this is a magical time for you. 
SO Tinker is on her way to you.  
She will be flying over in an airplane because her tiny wings would be all worn out from the flight over the ocean. It's such a big, big water to us and even bigger for her! She will be bringing something for Brother Sweet Pea & Daddy to put together, and something for Mommy to read.Tink will tell you how much your Nan & Pappy love you all and our secrets. So listen closely, and she might tell you things like how she saw Nanny & Pappy hugging and watching fireworks from the window, and how she heard the noisy firework LATE last night and told Patty Dog, "Don't be afraid!" She saw Nanny read her bible and talk to God, and heard Pappy & Uncle A fixing the side of the house.Tinker might tell you to remember that little girls can pretend to fly like fairies, but only pretend. No jumping off of tall things. Daddy is great for a "take off!" flight. 

I'm so glad I get to Skype with you and brother. Glad that Tinkerbell wasn't too shy to talk to you. 

Here's a picture of Nanny's shadow that I took at your house one night. I thought of Peter Pan when I saw my shadow. I'm glad my shadow sticks close by me and never runs away.

How Do I Know What to Pray?

Sometimes I don't even know what to pray. How do I know what the will of God is in a given situation? I know from Jesus' words that I don't have to be afraid to ask. I can trust that He has my best interests at heart. God is wanting to give me good things in my life and my children's lives. I wouldn't give my child a dirty rock instead of a tasty, hot, baked roll and I am just a messed up human, so shouldn't I expect God wants to do good to me and mine?

 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  ~Matthew 7:7-11

The dilemma is WHAT do I ask God to do?
Sometimes I seem to contradict myself and worry myself sick that I could be praying THE WRONG THING. How then in confusing circumstances do I know what to pray?
Do I pray for someone who is terminally ill to be healed? Someone who is clearly hurting and ready to go to heaven, or that God would be glorified and many come to Him because of that godly person's death and clear witness? Do I pray for better circumstances for my child when I see they are clearly hurting or or straying, or that whatever it takes they would be where they should be? I have come to the point in my prayer struggles that I feel can be persistent in praying what I think is the will of God, and make my requests to Him, like the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18, but I don't have to worry if I know His will perfectly, because.... 
He knows His own will! I can just pour my heart out to Him and He will work on changing me first. He can do exceedingly MORE than I ask! 

 
"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." ~ Romans 8:26-28

At times I feel I should be like the woman in Jesus' parable that never stopped asking until she got her answer, at other times I feel I've pestered petitioned Him enough and I must keep giving the situation to Him every day if need be until it is resolved in His timing, and in His way. How many times have I looked back and said, "Thanks Lord, that You did NOT answer my prayer! Your way was so much better!" I can make my requests known to Him and rest, because He will guard my heart and mind and give me peace.

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?  ~Luke 18:1-8
  
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 4:6-7

Strawberry Crepes

We had crepes for breakfast! 

  Crepes are a nice, thin little pancake that you can fill with savory or sweet ingredients. You can make these strawberry filled ones naughty, nice, or somewhere in-between. By that I mean you could use yogurt and unsweetened berries if you are trying to be super good. Sweetened berries, whipped cream & powdered sugar if you are bent on blowing your diet. We LOVED the sort of in-between ones I made today which had cream whipped made with a very small amount of sugar and vanilla & unsweetened berries piled inside. I put the extra unfilled crepes between waxed paper and stored them in the fridge.

Blend together with a mixer:

• 1 ½ cups milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tab. sugar (possibly could leave this out)
• 1 Tab. oil
•  1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 cup flour 

Heat a small skillet over medium heat with a small amount of oil or butter. Remove the pan from the burner and put 2-3 Tablespoons of batter in the pan swirling the pan quickly to coat the bottom.

Set the pan back on the burner and cook until the edges are brown. Brown only one side. These are so thin they will be cooked on the topside without flipping over.

Loosen the edges and invert your pan over a plate with a paper towel and there you are! 
A wonderful little crepe! Real whipped cream that you whip yourself is the best. ENJOY!

 I saved you some.

If You Ever

If you ever need a friend. If you ever need a listening ear. If everyone else's lives seem perfect, 

you can talk to me. 

Or find a true friend, maybe an older person whom you trust to confide in, ask advice from. Talking to Jesus is best, but sometimes you just need a friend besides Jesus, or maybe that's being Jesus in the flesh and bones on earth to someone...being there for them in heartache. Nothing you could tell me about your family would shock me, because as a friend of mine said, "Satan doesn't need any new tricks, 

he just uses the same ones down through time."

Sometimes I wonder if that's why we don't have perfect families. We are supposed to be able to empathize with others. Jesus is our high priest, and the bible says: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin." ~ Hebrews 4:15

So He sympathizes with us in our weakness and He knows we are far from perfect, and so our families are far from perfect. We shouldn't pretend we are perfect to our kids or the world. Who is going to reach out for encouragement if every one of us looks like we have it all together? We are to strive for personal holiness without becoming holier-than-thou. Thank You, Lord, for my imperfect world that makes me long for You even more. Thank You, that you allow daily turn-arounds.

"I will praise the Lord at all times;
my mouth will continually praise him." ~ Psalm 34:1

Christmas Candies: Homemade Tag-a-Longs, Reese's Bars, Divinity, Coconut Bon-Bons, Toffee, Tea Cakes & Chocolate-Covered Cherries

Christmas Goodies like these have always been THE gift to our favorite families. 

Everyone has their favorite. Bon-Bons are probably mine. I can remember Momma sometimes also dipped the Bon-Bons in melted butterscotch chips or cherry chips. This year I did almond bark and chocolate-covered ones. The toffee was a new candy for me to make this year. I followed the directions to sprinkle chocolate chips on top and let them melt and spread the chocolate. It didn't work out so well. The chips didn't melt right even when I popped it into the oven. So if there's  next time I will melt the chocolate and pour over the set toffee. It's still yummy.

Here's the link for the "Better than Lofthouse" Tea Cake recipe  which is my great grandmother's recipe. 

Chocolate-Covered Cherries directions are here.

The Tag-A-Longs are just 2 Ritz crackers with peanut butter spread in the middle, then dipped in chocolate. I like to mix chocolate almond bark or milk chocolate with semi-sweet chocolate.

Recipe for Bon-Bons will be here.

Reese's Bars recipe is here.

I did not use it, but this is the Toffee recipe from Pioneer Woman's site. I wanted the brown sugar one that I can't find. My recipe will be here eventually. It's only 1 c. brown sugar, 1 cup butter, dash salt.

Homemade Reese's like Bars

These are wonderful and can even be made a little healthier. Less butter, more peanut butter. Less sugar and sneak in some oat or flax flour. My guy said he notices when I make them healthier, but I notice that he eats them all up anyway. ;)

There's only 4 ingredients in the original recipe:

• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1 c. peanut butter
• 1 pkg. from a box of graham crackers, crushed
• 2 c. chocolate chips (I like to mix semi sweet & milk chocolate)   

Here's a link to other candy recipes I make.

Bon-Bons- A Coconut and Pecan Dream!

This is my favorite candy to make at Christmas. 

 I have started messing around a bit to make them less sugary by putting in some flour in place of some of the powdered sugar, also I don't try to make the dough too stiff, I just place the bowl in the fridge for awhile, roll them into balls and then freeze the balls before dipping in chocolate or almond bark. I make the "dough" or centers ahead of time, store in the freezer and then dip them as we have Christmas functions to attend. After dipping leave them in a cool, to room temperature place, and the centers will be gooey.

To make the centers you'll need:

• 1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 1/2 sticks Butter, softened, but not liquid
• 2 cups Bakers Coconut (It's nice and moist)
• 2 1/2 cups Pecans, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• Powdered Sugar and Flour to make a dough (original recipe says 2lbs. sugar. This is too sweet for me)

Mix all together and chill, covered, in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Roll the dough centers into small balls and place on waxed paper-lined cookie sheets and freeze. Once the balls are hardened melt your chocolate. I use semi-sweet and milk chocolate for the chocolate dipped ones and almond bark for the white ones. The swirl is melted almond bark that was put in a pastry bag and piped on with a plain pastry tip. When I dip chocolates I use 2 forks. Don't spear the item to be dipped, just throw it in the melted chocolate and fish it out by scooping up with one fork underneath. Tap, tap, tap the fork on the side of the pan to let all the excess go back into the pan and then use the other fork to scrape the ball off onto waxed paper.

Book Tree

This cute little tree is just a stack of open books, a little packing tape, paper wads, an empty tape roll, or sections of sturdy cardboard tubing.

Gather the books that you want to use. Large to small. You may be able to take it apart later, but probably not without some damage if you have to use the packing tape at the back, so pick books that aren't treasures to you. I may make a permanent tree with a rod or dowel down the center next time. I gathered greenish books.

Start with a sturdy roll of of tape, empty or not, and place your largest book open, face down, on top of the roll. My first thing was a roll of book mending tape. You could probably use a large wad of paper here, but whatever you use it needs to be sturdy to hold all the weight you will add. Add books and wads of paper or sections of sturdy cardboard tubing, under the spine areas as you stack to give support and height. You can experiment with turning each book slightly. As you add to the stack the tree will take on a life of it's own and get personality. It will likely tilt and you will have to add paper wads or exchange books to make it go the way you want. Use a little clear packing tape at the back as needed. Decorate with a little garland and a topper. The last touches are what really make you see that it's a tree!