Bran Muffins

I have a love for a good bran muffin.  Truly...  And, as it turns out, so does the rest of my family. 

 

In a former life, I got this recipe from the wife of one of my husbands co-workers.  Although the recipe is large, I actually double it, because around these parts, we go through an awful lot of muffins!

These muffins are especially good with some fresh raspberry jam on them, or a slathering of butter....and when they're fresh out of the oven?  I just can't resist!  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do...

Bulk Bran Muffin Mix
4 c. bran
4 c. flour
1 3/4 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. baking powder
Mix in an ice cream pail (or an exceptionally large bowl with a lid)  Add the following:
2 c. cold, black coffee
2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. oil
5 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. raisins
Mix to moisten.  Let this batter sit in the fridge for 4-5 hrs. before baking your first batch.  The batter will be good for 4 weeks (but mind never lasts that long!).  Bake at 350C for 20-25 minutes.

This is a great recipe for kids to make too - it's super easy, and especially tasty.  My Girls love making it, and then every few days, baking up a new batch.  Enjoy!

Hannah's Birthday

Just after Christmas, we celebrated the birthday of our firstborn. Hard to believe she's twelve already! My, how the years are flying by! Since our company had just left, and we were all fairly exhausted, we just had a quiet, relaxing day at home. She'll have a party later on in the month to celebrate. We did make her this scrumptious cake though....

 

 

I think Art's counting down the days until his birthday, when he has requested that we make this cake for him.  Truth be told, I am too.  It was REALLY good!

Grandpa's Caramel Corn

When I was a little girl, my grandparents all lived in Manitoba.  Every summer, and often at Christmas, we'd load up the car and drive out to visit them.  My Mom's parents farmed out there, and my Dad's parents lived in town.  My Grandpa on my Dad's side was known by his family for 2 things.  The first was his oatmeal.  Every morning, he'd have oatmeal for breakfast.  IF you were lucky enough to wake up in time to have oatmeal with him, he'd let you put on as much brown sugar as you wanted.  That was a huge treat!  The second thing my grandpa was know for, was the maker of caramel corn.  I think every time we went to visit, he'd always send us home with his caramel corn.  It was a huge treat, and highlight of the visit.  Later on in his life, he had cancer, but I remember hearing stories of him being in the hospital, and when he was released, he made caramel corn for the nurses who took care of him while he was in the hospital.

 

Every Christmas, I haul up the hot air popper, and make some of my Grandpa's caramel corn.  I don't know why this only happens at Christmas, frankly.... but that's the way she goes.  Perhaps this year, I'll make it in the Spring too, just to take a walk on the wild side!

 

Last night, while the Girls were decorating their little Christmas trees, I thought I'd make this special treat.

 

Here's the recipe:

 

Grandpa's Caramel Corn

 

Pop 2 pails (ice cream pails, that is) of popcorn

 

In a pot, combine

2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. corn syrup

1 tsp. salt

1 c. butter

 

Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes.  DO NOT STIR!  Add the following:

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

 

 

Stir and pour over the popcorn, mixing gently until covered.  Spread the covered popcorn on cookie sheets and bake at 200F for 1 hr.

 

After it's done baking, I let it cool a bit and store it in ice cream pails in the freezer.  I find that if I "hide" it in the freezer, it lasts more than 2 days.... if I'm lucky.

 

It's hard to have this yumminess sitting on the counter without munching at it a bit, so last night, only about a pail and a half made it to the freezer.  Oh well, I suppose it's better than nothing! 

 

 

Chicken Farmers, Extraordinaire!

Last week, we took our meat chickens into a poultry processing facility to be processed. 

Originally, we started off with 20 chickens.  When all was said and done, we had 14.  14 large, supple chickens (the processing facility guy's words, not mine!) 

I left at 5:30 am to drive these bad boys, all alive, and in the box of the truck, to their place of death.  I unloaded them and drove the hour and a half home.  Later that afternoon, we headed back to go and pick up our flock, now wrapped and chilled. 

When we picked them up, we were talking to the owner of the facility, and he was quite impressed with our birds.  They actually had some problems bagging them because they didn't fit in the chicken bags, and were too small for the turkey bags.  He told us that he's never seen chickens this big, and normally, with big chickens, they're quite tough, but these chicken's meat was nice and supple.  Hooray for us!  When Art told him this was our first time raising meat chickens, he couldn't believe it!  He asked us what we did....and he told them....Put them in the chicken mansion and feed them!

I think it was the mansion.... they really liked the mansion.  They had a high quality of life in the mansion....

All of our chickens were 10-12 lbs. once they were processed, so I think they will serve our family well. I have yet to roast one of these bad boys, but I'm going to next week, when we have some company to help us eat this big boy!

The funnest thing about the whole experience (other than being rid of those ugly birds) was that you get to choose what you have put on the label.  Here's what ours said: 

I think that we need to change our occupation, because frankly, I feel like a Chicken Farmer, Extraordinaire!

Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread

I found this recipe on pinterest the other day....yummy!  It's called Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread, but don't let that scare you!  It's delicious!

You start with some pizza dough (I made my own).  Then, cut up some cooked chicken breasts (I had a few in my fridge, leftover from dinner the night before) and add some buffalo wing sauce to it.  After the pizza dough has risen, roll it out to about 9 x 13", put on some ranch dressing, some buffalo wing sauce, the chicken, and some cheese (I used mozza and marble).  Roll it up, making sure you fold in the ends so it doesn't explode while baking (25 min. at 425), and Voila!  Here it is!

I served it with salad.  The Girls and Art all loved it!  I was nervous that it would be a bit too spicy, but the seasoning was just right!

My only regret is that I didn't double the recipes, because it would be great for lunch the next day....

Sweet Tea

Because I'm a wanna-be Southerner, I've always loved the idea of drinking sweet tea.  The reality, however, not so much.  Well, I've realized it's because I was making it wrong....and I have Paula Deen to thank!

I checked out her website, and got basic instructions on how to make it, with several variations, and I think I've struck a winner!  The only problem is that I may become addicted....

My love of the idea of sweet tea usually comes on every summer, but it started out (again) because I was coveting a very cute mason jar drink dispenser at Pottery Barn. I know, I know, coveting is a sin....but it was oh, so fun, and oh, so expensive!!  Then, when we were in Fairmont, we stopped in at the Home Hardware (I love Home Hardware, especially in small towns....you never know what you're gonna find there.  Case in point!), and in looking around the kitchen section, look what was beckoning me.  The exact same drink dispenser as they have at Pottery Barn.  Only for a 1/3 of the price.  Yippee for me!  So, I brought that bad boy home, made some sweet tea, and never looked back.

If you're in the neighborhood this summer, stop on by, and we can sit and have a chat and drink sweet tea together.  I'm pretty sure I'll always have some ready!



Confused

I showed you the pictures from yesterday morning....well here's the picture from the afternoon!

The majority of the snow has melted, and we are back in our mud pit!  It's a good thing I have my trusty rubber boots!  I have definitely gotten good use of them this Spring!

Since we were snowed in yesterday, I took the opportunity to make some of our traditional favorite Easter goodies...

 Lemon buns are some of our favorite spring treats.  Really, how can you go wrong with a sweet bun filled with lemon pie filling and icing on top?!  Whenever I make lemon buns, I also usually make lemon meringue tarts to use up the leftover lemon filling.  After all, it would be almost criminal to let it go to waste! 

Now that the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the mud is oozing, it's time to go outside.  Hope that y'all have a great weekend!

Bread

I love bread.  Love it!  My kids love bread...my husband loves bread.... really, who doesn't?!

Anyhow, I've recently made a few new kinds of bread, and they have been wonderful!

First of all, I found a recipe on pinterest which was AMAZING!

I made French Bread, and then brushed it with garlic butter and cut slices about 3/4's of the way through about an inch apart.  Then, I brushed it with garlic butter again, in each of the slices, and put Havarti cheese in each cut.  Back in the oven it went until the cheese had just melted.  Oh my goodness!  It was delicious....my Girls called it "dessert bread".   It was also be so, so good with ham put in their too, and served with salad or soup.

 The next new bread I made was buttermilk biscuits.  They were pretty darn good too...especially warm and flaky, just out of the oven!

Lastly, this past week I attempted sourdough bread.  First, I made the starter, which sat on my counter for 4 days....and I'm not gonna lie.  I was a little bit scared!  Then, in the fridge it went (where my jar runneth over....all over my fridge!  Thankfully I have glass shelves!).  Then, I finally baked it...which took almost a full day to complete that process.  Although it seemed a little bit involved, it really wasn't - just something to work into my routine.

Here is the final outcome...

It was fairly yummy, I'm not gonna lie.  And the best part is that the starter sits in my fridge, needing to be "fed" once a week, and is ready and waiting for the next time I make bread. 

It's been a whole new world at our house, friends.  Well, not really....just lots and lots of yummy bread.