1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 cup butter, 3 cups self rising flour, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 cups chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 min. or until done.
Wednesday
I thought I would share this picture of Katie that Dave posted on facebook. She certainly is growing. Thanks Grace for helping me do this.
Things have been moving along rapidly here. Friday we went down to Jessica’s to fix a railing on her porch. Saturday, Jess and the kids came up to us for a visit. Dave is down to the wire on finishing his book. She thought he might get more done on it if they were out of the house. It was a really nice visit. It had been a while since they had been up.
Jess and I went in halves on a 50 lb bag of soft white wheat. This is totally different from what I am used to using. I have always used Prairie Gold wheat. Supposedly, soft white wheat is for things that use baking powder not yeast. I have had a hard time learning how to bake with it. I made chocolate chip cookies Saturday that were FLAT and I do mean flat. Anyway Daniel said they were delicious! Gotta love that boy!! So I think I have finally cured the problem. Because I freshly grind the wheat kernels, they are “fluffy”. I need to add 1/4 cup more flour for every 1 cup the recipe calls for. I did that this morning with some more cookies and they turned out fine. Next trial-pie crusts. Our rhubarb is up and I think there is enough to make a pie. I want to try this recipe http://theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/2013/04/theres-nothing-so-sweet-as.html
We are moving right along with school. I think we will be finished by the end of May if all goes as planned. We are looking forward to summer break this year. Lots of fun stuff going on.
Well, I guess that’s about all that’s going on here. Enjoy your day and God bless.
Geese
Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. The sun is shining. Temperature is 55 degrees. I LOVE IT! I know there are lots of people who enjoy winter and cold weather. I am not one of them. For my part, it could just stay like this until spring. I’m pretty sure it won’t though. We have lots of geese on the pond today. Probably close to 50. They seem to be enjoying the warmer temps too.
We have been busy today making treats for Jessica’s “goodie” basket. So far, we have made chocolate chip cookies and Russian tea cakes. We still have Martha Washington balls and peanut butter balls to make. She always wants ritz crackers with peanut butter spread between them, dipped in white chocolate with an m & m on top(I have no idea what this is called but it is one of her favorites). Tomorrow I will be baking a ham and making homemade rolls. Other things on the menu (as of right now)-pasta salad, green beans, cocktail weiner, angel punch and sausage balls.
I guess I better get busy-more candy to make. I love this time of year. Enjoy your day and God bless.
Apron
Here is a picture of the apron I just finished. I am hoping to take it to the Bread Basket today. I am working on another apron that I am making from an old pillowcase. I will take a picture of it when it is finished. We have been busy with school this week. It seems to be going pretty well. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies because school is just not school without cookies-or so I have been told. We have had fairly nice weather here this week. I think though rain is in the forecast and cooler temps. We’ll see. Well, it actually started to sprinkle as I typed this, so the girls and I had to make a run out to the clothesline to get them off before they got too wet.
It is corn cutting time. For several weeks, this is a familar site here on the farm. They started cutting above the house this morning. Well, our lunch break is over. Enjoy your day and God bless.
Potatoes
The girls and I took the morning off from school to dig our potatoes. If we did not count wrong, we had 8 drywall buckets of potatoes. YEAH! I think homegrown potatoes are so much better than store bought. But then I think everything homegrown is better. The temperature here is still chilly. Around 50 degrees. Feels like fall. I guess I will have to build another fire this evening. The girls and I also gathered about 2 gal. of peppers this morning. We just gathered them all as it is sure to frost here soon.
I think tonights menu will be hot roast beef sandwiches with green beans. Maybe some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Take care and God bless.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
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.
Black Eyed Susans
I think these are such cheerful flowers. I like their bright color. They are among the last of the flowers to bloom in one of my flower gardens. Fall is definitely in the air here in Floyd. Cooler temperatures at night. Upper 50’s lower 60’s. We even spotted one tree that is starting to change colors. I love fall! Many people say summer has long lazy days. This is usually not true for me. Fall is more of a slow down time for us. Most of the canning is done. We can slow down and enjoy the cooler days. I love it! Of course, I have had to slow down a little earlier than planned this year but I think I have learned a lot from this experience. What have I learned? I need to slow down a little, enjoy life more, laugh more, do more things with my girls. There is much to be said for teaching my girls how to can and take care of the house but also there is much to be said for picnics under oak trees and hikes down favorite trails. Balance-I think it is all about balance.
Yesterday the girls and I made homemade vegetable beef soup with homemade rolls. It is starting to feel like soup weather. I told the girls the other day, these cooler temperatures makes me want to open up new school books. Amazing-cooler temps does not have the same effect on them. We wanted to make chocolate chip cookies yesterday but did not get them done. I think that will be a project for today. If we get to make them, I will try to post the recipe we use. We have some corn that needs to be pulled and worked up so I guess that too will be on the list for today. My list is not near as long as it was before the back pain.
Enjoy your day and God bless.
Merry Heart Crafts 