Biscuit Mix

Tired of buying this out of the store? Well, today Jess and I came across a recipe to make our own. We found it in our Mennonite cookbook. I needed to make sausage balls for our thanksgiving meal and of course my store bought bisquick mix was out of date. I will be making this mix today but I felt confident enough in Mrs. Shank’s recipe to post it without trying it first. I very seldom do that but every recipe I have tried from this cookbook has been excellent. I feel confident this one will be also. The recipe is:

8 cups all purpose flour, 1/3 cup baking powder, 2 tsp. cream of tartar, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp salt, 1 1/2 cups dry milk powder. Mix together thoroughly. 2 cups vegetable shortening. Cut in until mixture is fine uniform crumbs. Store in airtight container in cool dry place. Yield 13 cups mix which makes 45-50 biscuits. To make biscuits, blend together 3 1/2 cups mix and 2/3 cup water. Stir just until liquid is mixed into the dough. Form into a ball and knead slightly. Pat or roll out to 1/2″ thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Place on greased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 min. Makes 12 large biscuits.

Temperatures are nice here today but the clouds are moving in. I have clothes on the line, hoping they will dry. Yesterday was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. I certainly am enjoying these warm temperatures. I was looking on our calendar. Last year on Dec. 5th we had our first snow and it snowed all winter. It was a beautiful but hard winter. I wonder what the Lord has in mind for this winter.

Time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 23, 2010 4

A Mountain of Rolls

One of the things I am taking tomorrow for our thanksgiving meal at church will be these rolls. I froze them ahead of time and have been baking them all day today. The one difference I have noticed is that the frozen dough did not rise as much as it would if it had not been frozen. They taste the same though and I guess thats what counts. I am also making cinnamon rolls to take. Not sure what else yet. After our meal, the youth of our church will go shopping. Every year they get two “angels” from the angel tree. A boy and a girl. Each family in the church contributes $5.00. Then the youth go shopping. They boys buy for the boy and the girls buy for the girl. It is a very nice tradition. Our youth really look forward to going. One year, they were shopping and picked out something they wanted to buy and they were a little short on the money needed to buy it. One of the boys said he had some extra from a job he had done that week. He gave the extra so they could purchase the item. I love that. Children being raised to give generously and without expecting anything in return.

Yesterday I had a WONDERFUL surprise. Jessica and Sam came up for a visit. I did not know they were coming. They just walked in the door. I was so happy. Daniel and David were at home. She stayed until after lunch. The bible study ladies had not gotten to see Sam yet. It was a great surprise. Have I mentioned I love happy surprises?

Beautiful day here in Floyd. Very nice temperatures with lots of sunshine. A great day for being outside. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 20, 2010 4

Am I Cute?

This is one of our new kitties. You may remember there are 3 of them. The other two were being shy. This one the girls call Fuzzy Wuzzy. I wonder why. He is so chubby and fuzzy he waddles when he walks. Very cute.

Today has been a beautiful day here in Floyd. All week has been really, really nice. The mornings have been pretty chilly-mid 20’s. The days however have warmed up nicely with lots of sunshine-low 60’s. Amazing! We have hung our clothes outside on the line all week. How good is that! Almost mid November and this warm. I like it.

Today was ladies bible study day. We finished our study on Ruth. Our next study will be on Women Who Believed God. It looks like it will be a very good study. I always love starting a new study. I think it is so exciting. I can hardly wait to see what the Lord will reveal to us.

Lots to do so take care and God bless.

November 12, 2010 2

My Accomplishment-Pumpkin Roll

For many years, I have thought about trying to make one of these. However I have always been intimidated by the idea of rolling it up. I’m not sure why as I make many other things that need to be rolled. Anyway, today was the day I put my fears behind me and tackled it. Guess what? It was not near as difficult as I thought it would be. With a little practice, I think it would even be easy.

Today is an absolutely beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperatures are in the mid 60’s. Lots of sunshine. Just beautiful! I can hardly wait to get my stuff finished and get out in this wonderful weather. Yesterday I cooked a large pork roast in the crockpot. We had pork roast, cheesy potatoes and pinto beans. Tonights menu will be pork bbq with homemade buns, home fries and slaw. I think there will be enough pork left over for burrittos tomorrow night. I like to do this. Cook a large amount of meat and then use it in several different ways for supper over the next few days. This speeds up cooking time in the evening.

I think I need to get busy. My “green swing” is lonely and needs me to come keep it company. God bless.

November 10, 2010 4

Pretty Blue Flowers

This pretty little stream runs through one of the fields below our house. A few blue flowers are still holding on. Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Floyd. Today however we may get some rain. Pretty windy and overcast. The pastors sermon yesterday was on David and Goliath and facing the giants in our own life. It was an excellent sermon. Last nights menu was mostly leftovers from the “critter chompin”. We had a cornbeard casserole, potato cakes, green beans, baked beans, fresh homemade bread, chips and dip, and cake. We always eat sooooo good!

Today, hopefully, we will get some more of our apples worked up, along with school. I am doing laundry but it will have to be dried inside-so sad. I really miss hanging clothes outside. I think they smell so good. Well, I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

October 25, 2010 1

More Pictures

A few more fall pictures to enjoy!

Isn’t that sky a beautiful color!

Ain’t that two beautiful girls!

Yesterday was very nice here. Wonderful tempertures, beautiful sunshine. Our church sponsors, once a year, a sportmans banquet, or as we call it a “critter chompin” It is a lot of fun with lots of good fun. We had a guest speaker who brought a good message. We also had some funny stories but of course the highlight of the evening was the food. We really didn’t have much wild “critter” though. One bear dish, mostly deer and just regular food. I took tuna cakes, homemade rolls, a molasses (stack) cake, and some hot cider. There was so much food it would be impossible for me to name it all. I’m so sorry you missed it, Dave.

Today has been another beautiful day. I think though the forecasters are calling for rain the first of the week. I think I better hurry out to my “green swing” and enjoy the beauty that God has created. Take care and God bless.

October 24, 2010 1

Fall Colors

Here is another picture from our outing yesterday. Such beautiful colors. Today has been busy working on the new room. We have the vinyl flooring down. Now I should pause to say “where I come from” we call this linoleum. Here they call it vinyl flooring. Anyway, it is down on the floor. All the trim is cut, painted and on except for the window trim. It is really starting to look like a room. I will try to post a picture of it soon so you all can see our progress.

We did not have ladies bible study today. Two of the ladies were unable to come so we just decided to call it off. Probably for the best, my house is a little cluttered right now. Hopefully, soon it will all be finished and we can get everything back in order. Today has been a beautiful day here in Floyd. Nice temperatures, cool but not too much, lots of sunshine. We did have a fire all day which has felt really nice. I cooked my first kettle of pinto beans on the wood stove today so I guess fall is officially here. There is no better pinto beans than those cooked on a wood stove-in my opinion.

Well, still more to get done. Enjoy your evening and God bless.

October 22, 2010 2

Fall

Hubby took this picture from our dining room window. I think the dogwood is looking very pretty. Yesterday was a busy day. Remodeling always makes the whole house a mess, not just the area where you are working. Our house seemed to me to be very chaotic. The girls and I took some time before school to straighten up a little. Then we decided to take a morning walk. It would have made a good picture. Myself, Julie, Grace, our two dogs and one kitty cat. The little black cat, Moon, always loves to go on walks. She was very tired when we got back and had to take a long nap under the maple tree. Hubby got the first coat of mud on the drywall yesterday evening. It is starting to look more and more like a room now. Gets me excited thinking things will soon get back in order.

Today seems to be another beautiful day. Yesterday was very nice-sunshine, warm temperatures, breezy, a nice day for drying clothes outside. We made homemade doughnuts yesterday. They turned out okay, I guess. The girls and I did not care a lot for them, but Hubby thought they were good. He likes doughnuts much more than we do. I made the dough in my bread machine and then fried them. If I do them again, I think I will try baking them. A blogger friend of mine bakes hers and they like them better. I did discover though, the doughnut dough is excellent for making garlic bread sticks. The girls liked them better than the ones I did the other evening. The recipe I used is:

1 1/4 cups milk, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 cup shortening, 3 1/2 cups flour,1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. yeast. I put this in my bread machine in the order listed. Set it on dough cycle and let it work. I love that.

Today I think we will make some cookies-chocolate chip of course. They are the girls favorite-not mine. I am not much of a chocolate person. I know that goes against all nature-for a woman to not like chocolate- but I just don’t care a lot for it. Well, we better get started on our day. Take care and God bless.

October 19, 2010 2

A Resting Kind of Day

Today has been a kinda slow day. Julie went shooting at the shooting range with her Dad today. She had a really great time and says she wants to go again. Grace and I stayed home. We made applesauce muffins. I got the recipe from one of my blogger friends. Remember the “peach sauce” we made earlier in the summer, well, we used it instead of applesauce. They turned out really good. Then we made some homemade rolls to go with supper tonight. We will be having beef roast, corn from the garden and potatoes, with the homemade rolls of course. I think watermelon for dessert.

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperatures in the upper 70’s, low 80’s. One of those nice relaxing days. I thought the picture of the cat summed up how the day has been. Slow and lazy. Yesterday was bible study day. We only have one more lessons in I Corinthians and then we will start the Ruth study. I am really looking forward to it. I’m sure there will be lots to learn.

Time for me to go enjoy some of that nice weather. My green swing is calling me. Of course, the other cat will have to move over.

God bless.

August 28, 2010 1

Garden

It’s been a while since I posted pictures of our garden. It has really grown. Everything looks to be doing really well. You can’t tell it from the picture but the potatoes are beginning to bloom.

This is our beans and corn. We kinda got a late start on planting them but they look strong and healthy. Today is an absolutely beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperatures are in the lower 70’s with a nice breeze. It’s one of those days where it is hard to work inside. I would much rather be outside enjoying the day. Hopefully, later after our inside work is done. I plan on spending some quality time with my green swing.

This is the kind of space I always dreamed of having. It is one of the most peaceful places I know. I so much enjoy coming and sitting down in this swing. The Lord and I have had some of our best conversation here. I am so thankful to my hubby for making this swing for me and for helping me keep this area beautiful.

I wanted to show you all how the sun was glistening off the rows of corn. The corn stalks seem to be glowing. I thought it was very pretty. I guess I’d better get busy if I want to get my housework done today. After all, the green swing IS calling my name. Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 17, 2010 1