Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm

I'm not sure if I'm boring you with another zucchini recipe or if you are like me and have an abundance of them that you are desperate for many way to use them up beside sharing them with others  So again I went online in search of a cookie that I hadn't made yet and I could send to "the little dudes". So after the Grandpa test, which by the way got 2 thumbs up, I packed them up and sent them priority mail. They should get them Friday along with the kaleidoscopes and Thomas the train cars. Here is the link to the recipe I used. They are moist and not overly sweet, perfect for the boys. Plus I was able to sneak in a little vegetable. I am loving this break from the heat and humidity. We had a cold front move in with some rain. Its 12:00 right now and only 67 outside. Just wonderful. After it stops raining I'm going to spend as much time as I can outside as possible. But until then I'm working on getting more done on the Red Stri

I have had an abundant of zucchini this year So I've been looking up recipes that are made with zucchini. I have a great bread recipe that is in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that I have had for over 30 years. But I needed more recipes so off to the internet to find some and I came across a few good ones. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_muffins/ I made these for the retreat and they were a big hit. And last week for the 30's I made these cookies. Which again were big hits. http://www.cookingclassy.com/2014/07/zucchini-cookies-cream-cheese-frosting/ http://www.chef-in-training.com/2015/07/chocolate-zucchini-cookies/ One thing thou is I'm a very messy cook. I will need to find more recipes cause I have a pile of them waiting for me when I get back. Hope you enjoy these.

My day did not go as I had planned this morning. I figured I would work outside for a couple hours and come inside to clean up, then spend time in the sewing room all afternoon. It look good on paper but not in reality... I did spend the morning outside but longer than I thought I would. First on all the humidity was lower than it has been so I was able to last longer working.  I was out there from 7 to 11am...was able to plant seeds for zucchini and butternut squash, weed some more (which I bet will take me all this month to get it cleaned up). Was working in the bed with the onions and like the peppers... there are some in there There they are The front porch finally was cleaned up of all the fallen bird seed and fall decorations. Pretty sad that I had not gotten to that before now but seeing how I live in the boonies and do not have company very often it was easy to put it off. Well by the time I came in and shower, it was lunch time. And like my gran

I have become obsessed with Larabars, especially the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  So being a penny pincher and at a $1.50 a bar, I figure I could make something close to it for a lot less. Went online to read what others have done besides reading the ingredients on the bar. From there I started playing around. I ended up with one I felt was pretty close. Actually down right yummy and a healthy, clean snack All you need is raw cashews whole or pieces pitted dates without sugar and chocolate chips ( I found at Sprouts vegan, sweeten with Stevia mini chips. Perfect) A pinch of salt And a food processor. I used equal amounts of cashews and dates, 1.5 cups each. If dates are hard, soak them in warm water for 10 mins, drain and pat dry. Put them in the processor for about 10 sec. It should be well minced and starting to ball up.  At least it did on me. All that is important is that it will stick together enough to form balls or bars. But not too

I have had an abundance of vegetables this years so I have been doing a lot of canning, freezing and drying of my bounty. But in addition to that I have been busy surfing the web looking for new recipes to try. Most have been very good but every now and then I've made one that is just awful no matter what I change.  This recipe I questioned but I was looking for one that I could use up some of the last of the zucchini. I've made bread, muffins, casseroles, baked it, fried it, steamed and saute. But I hadn't tried a soup that was mainly zucchini and not just the side veggie. What also peaked my interest was that it also used pears. Heaven knows I have a ton (ok just 165 lbs) of them at the moment waiting to be put up. Found this recipe at the Food Network website. I can find some really good ones at that site, one of the many I visit. Here is the page for you who can access it http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/40-a-day/pear-and-zucchini-soup-recipe/index.htm

This evening for dinner I tried just roasting the Butternut Squash in a little Olive oil and seasoned with minced garlic and salt & pepper. This was my the first attempt and I think I needed to add a little more seasoning.  Next time I will. It has been my week of flops.  Saturday I thought I would make some Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's day. Mixed it, and put it in the oven and it had been in the oven nearly the complete time for baking when I realized I put baking powder instead of baking soda in my bread. Needless to say it didn't rise and when cooled down it was hard as a rock. But when it came out of the oven "the Man of the Place" who was being so sweet because he could tell I was very disappointed in myself, said he wanted a piece anyway since I went to all that trouble. If you could of only seen his expression as he was choking it down.  The chickens sure enjoyed it the next day. I'm linking up with Judy

Today is week one of "What's Cooking" over at Patchwork Times by Judy. The ingredient we were given for this week was sweet potatoes. Each week she gives you an ingredients or two and then you are to fine either a recipe you have or one from a cookbook, or the Internet. Cook your recipe and then post with a picture. This is mine that I found on the Internet. The one I found called for beets and onions in addition to sweet potatoes Sweet Potato-Beet Hash http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/sweet-potato-beet-hash-recipe/index.html Ingredients 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice 1 large fresh beet, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice 1 tablespoon olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 slice bacon, cut into lardons 1 small onion, diced Directions Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss the cut sweet potatoes and beets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a parchment-lined baki

So after all the nice, concerned and very helpful answer to my plea last week to know whether or not my sauerkraut was any good. I want to thank you. So this is what I decided.  See how it was discolored near the top.  I had never made my own before so I have no experience on what is good, bad, right or wrong. So with what I've read and the answers I received, I decided it was safe to eat. So I removed the discolored kraut and ate what was below. That was yesterday and we are here, fine  and  that was the best sauerkraut I have ever had. I have had only store bought in the past and did not like it. If I had know how yummy it was, I would of been making my own years ago. At stitch group the other day, Debbie was telling us about the sauerkraut she made for Joann and her husband. Joann had said it was so good. I made it last night and it was. You ought to try it. Here is Debbie's Recipe (She used a can of store bought) I used 3 cup of my sa

I just love asparagus!!! My asparagus is growing like crazy in the beds I had planted 9 years ago and seeing how it is over 3 years established,  I can harvest spears for 3 weeks. I have a bed that is 25' long and 2.5' wide with 20 plants/crowns. I have been harvesting the spears for a week now and in this first week I have harvested 5.5 lbs. So as you can see I have a bunch, a big bunch to do something with. Yesterday on our local TV channel they had a great soup recipe that sounded wonderful. We tried it tonight and  "the man of the place"  loved it, even thou it was healthy. It was very good. But I had more asparagus than what the soup called for so I froze the rest.  I used the spears to freeze and the stalks for the soup. To freeze them cut the ends off and leave about 5- 6" spear tips. Cut the stalks into 2" pieces. Need to blanch the spears for 1 - 2 minutes and then put in ice water. Dry and freeze  in freezer bags, jars for freezing or

Over at  Sustainable Eats  Annette had written a book called The Urban Farm Handbook and she has a challenge going on this year. And this month challenge was dealing with Home Dairy. Now I have chickens, I have a veggie garden, I have fruit trees and we even raise are own beef but one thing we do not have is a dairy cow or goat. Part of the challenge was to try to find somewhere local a dairy producer. Well we have lots a dairy farmer around here but I do not know of one that sell from their farm. So I need to keep looking. So to make my cheese I get my milk from Braum's Creamery. They do have really good milk. I make Mozzarella cheese from their milk and I will share how I make my cheese but there is also other sites out there that give very good instructions.  The cheesemaking supply company  gives great instruction and that is where I have ordered what I needed. Here is a brief summery of what I do.  I start with a gallon of milk, I use 2%.  You need