When cycle is finished, turn dough out on floured surface.  Knead slightly, just enough to punch down dough.  Choose now what you want to make with your dough.  If making dinner rolls or hamburger buns, shape small sections of dough into round shapes.  This will make about 15 rolls depending on how large or small you make them.  Place rolls on cookie sheet, spray tops with oil spray.  Let rise 1 hr.  Bake at 400 for 12 min. Remove from oven.   Brush tops generously with melted butter.  Enjoy!!

We did make cookies this afternoon.  It seems like it has been a long time since we made cookies.   We have made lots of other desserts this summer, just not cookies.  Here’s the recipe I like to use:

1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 cup butter, softened.  1 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 3 cups self-rising flour.  I use 2 cups white flour, 1 cup fresh ground wheat flour.  Add 1 12 oz package chocolate chips.  I use the mini chocolate chips.  I think they do much better, makes you think there is more chocolate in each cookie.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 min.  We are enjoying them now with a tall glass of fresh milk.  Life is good!

We gathered the corn this morning but because of my back problems it had gotten a little bit hard so we are making pickled corn from it.  I really like pickled corn with brown beans and corn bread.  When I make pickled corn, I cut it off the cob-do not scrape the cob.  Then I put it into a crock, cover it with cold water.  Put a plate on top of this so the corn stays under the salted water.  For every gallon of water I need to cover the corn, I add 10 tbsp. of canning salt.  Let the corn sit in the crock for 1 week.  Drain the salted water off and rinse the corn.  Put into jars and process in water bath canner.  10 min. pts and 15 min. qts.  When it is time to eat it, we like to heat it up in a cast iron skillet with just a little bit of oil.  To make myself feel better I use olive oil.  The old way is to use lard.

More cookies are ready to come out of the oven.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

A picture of the field.  I was hoping it would show how the sun was glistening off the snow.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Our road after the tractor had made a path.

Going up the hill beside the hay barn.  Yes, that brown spot proves there is still dirt under all this snow.

Guess what?  We’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow.  Not much though-about 3″.  After all this, we probably won’t even notice 3 more inches.  Anyway, we have company coming over today.  My brother-in-law and his wife are coming.  I made homemade vegetable beef soup(cooked on the wood stove, of course)and I’m making  rolls as I type this.  I use my bread machine to mix and knead the dough.  I love this machine.  It is a Zojirushi.    

I bought it used several years ago and consider it a very valuable helper.  I put 1 cup lukewarm water into the machine, 1/4 cup butter-cut into chunks, 1egg beaten, 3 1/4 cups bread flour, 4 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp powdered milk, 1tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp yeast.  Set the machine to dough cycle and walk away.  It takes the machine l hr 50 min. to run through this cycle.  Then I take the dough out, punch it down and form the rolls.  I get about 15 rolls from 1 batch.  Then I spray them with olive oil and let them rise for about 1 hr.  Bake 12 min. at 425 degrees.  When I take them out of the oven, I brush them with melted butter(being generous with the butter).  Half of these never make it to the table.  They get eaten as soon as the butter is spread on them.  One thing I do a little different from this recipe is I put 1 1/4 cup fresh ground wheat flour and 2 cups bread flour instead of using all bread flour.  My family doesn’t care a lot for whole wheat so I mix it.  I guess I better go check on my rolls and get ready for company.  God Bless.

Grain Master Whisper Mill.  I use this for grinding corn and wheat.

Fresh ground corn meal.  To make this self rising, I follow this recipe.  4 cups fresh ground corn meal (or wheat flour), 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp baking powder.  Sift together.

Finished product, ready to enjoy.  What do you think we’ll be having for dinner?  God Bless.